Fata development indicator household survey report launched
PESHAWAR: Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan on Monday launched the Fata Development Indicator Household Survey Report (FDIHS, 2013-14).
A ceremony to this effect was arranged in Islamabad, said an official handout. Fata Development Indicator household survey was carried out by the Bureau of Statistics, Fata Secretariat, with a tripartite arrangement between, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics and the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar. It was done with the financial support of Governance Support Project Fata-Multi Donor Trust Fund.
“This Survey report comes at a time when the status of Fata is under deliberation with a focus on a vast range of governance reforms, improvement in service delivery and initiation of new livelihoods opportunities,” said the governor.
“The survey report is a tool that will enable policy makers in the process of resource allocation, sectoral prioritisation and subsequent monitoring and evaluation of the progress towards the desired goals and objectives which are the building blocks of the peaceful and prosperous future of area that we are envisaging and trying to achieve despite the age-long constraints and challenges,” he said.
Regarding the engagement of Fata youth in the process, the governor said: “It is commendable to know that the educated youth from Fata was engaged in on-ground data collection, and in this way not only lending greater authenticity to the data but also a strong sense of ownership of the people of Fata. It is all the more heartening that the process has also contributed to the capacity building of our budding youthful talent from Fata, besides BoS Fata and IM|Sciences.”
The governor joined the ceremony as chief guest, arranged by PCNA Implementation Support Unit Fata, Secretary Planning and Development Department Fata, World Bank’s Multi Donor Trust Fund team, Development Partners, international donors, Academia, Coordinator of GSP-ISU Fata and the enumerators were also present on the occasion.
Lauding the survey report, Secretary P&D Fata Shakeel Qadar said: “The report is enriched with data and comprehensively revealing as it is. Now we know for the first time a stunning picture of the situation on ground in Fata.” He added: “The development experts and policy makers acknowledge that without having baseline indicators, it is extremely difficult to design and monitor development interventions.”
The official said that in case of Fata, however, due to lack of comprehensive socio-economic indicators, and project evaluation in different sectors was not only complex but comparative analysis of the development pace was also not precise and reliable.
He mentioned that the literacy rate in Fata was now 33.3 percent and 11.8 percent of Fata youth (age 15-24) was unemployed according to the latest statistics. Talking about the ratio of health, water and sanitation data, he said that only 8.9 percent of estimated population had access to drinking water, 38.3 percent of Fata households had flush latrines, only 6.3 percent houses had underground drainage system and only 29.5 percent of births were attended by skilled health personals. Moreover the report said that 0.7 percent children (age 2-9) had at least one disability in overall Fata, furthermore 71.8 percent of Fata people used radio as source of information.
Shakeel Qadar presented a shield to the governor. Secretary Planning and Development Fata formally presented the Fata Development Indicator Household survey report 2013-14 to the governor. The data would be utilised as baseline for the development planning of Fata.
