UNDP organized its first Advisory Council meeting for the Pakistan National Human Development Report (NHDR) on Inequality
ISLAMABAD (Pakistan Point News / NNI - 26th March, 2019) UNDP organized its first Advisory Council meeting for the Pakistan National Human Development Report (NHDR) on Inequality.The members included Pakistan's foremost academics, technical experts, and policy makers, including Shandana Gulzar Khan, Dr. Faisal Bari, Mustafa Talpur, and representatives from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) and UNICEF, among many others.The discussion was initiated by Ignacio Artaza, UNDP Pakistan's Resident Representative a.
i., with contributing remarks by Daniel Valenghi (SDC), Shakeel Ahmed (UNDP Pakistan's Assistant Resident Representative), and Dr. Hafiz Pasha (lead author of the NHDR and former Commerce, Planning, and Finance Minister of Pakistan).The NHDRs combine research, analysis, and policy recommendations to deconstruct themes of human development. With this in mind, Pakistan's latest NHDR focuses on inequality in the country. It aims to compute a multidimensional index of inequality at the national, intra-provincial, and inter-provincial levels.
Qualitative research will also be undertaken in the form of focus groups and ethnographies, in order to get a more in-depth perspective of people's perceptions and experiences of inequality in Pakistan.Dr. Pasha emphasized how the findings of the report are particularly pertinent at this time, owing to a 43% increase in inequality in Pakistan between 1987 and 2016. The proposed policy recommendations will also align well with the UN's Sustainable Development Goal #10, which aims to reduce inequality within and among countries.
Ignacio Artaza, Resident Representative a.i., UNDP Pakistan said, "These reports enjoy full editorial independence and are an amalgamation of evidence-based research, human development measuring indices, and policy recommendations which are aligned with national priorities. "It was stated that the larger goal of the NHDR is to generate participation and dialogue around the experiences of disenfranchised groups in Pakistan, and to compel the government, CSOs, and individuals to work towards a more equitable Pakistan for all. NNI
