With help from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan is working on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for a future development agenda. The proposed project objective is to increase the utilisation of quality health services, economic and social inclusion programmes among poor and vulnerable households. The project will support implementation of key investments in health, education and social protection.

Health Services Quality and Utilisation is one of the components of the SDG project. This component will improve maternal and newborn health, especially among poor and vulnerable households. This will enable a strong start in a child’s first 1,000 days. With work on the Quality of Health Services, the UNDP will put efforts into strengthening the primary health-care facilities in the provision of good quality services and their adherence to Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS). This will be done first by upgrading the selected basic health units (BHUs) in select districts to provide uninterrupted (24/7) services all days of the week, including provision of essential equipment, medicines and supplies. Secondly, selected rural health centres in selected districts will be upgraded to provide neonatal intensive care on a pilot basis. The programme also extends to the recruiting and training of healthcare personnel, including pediatricians, medical officers, lady health workers and lady health visitors.

The provision of nutrition services through outdoor therapeutic programme counters and the provision of population welfare services in close coordination with the department responsible for population welfare, also comes under the ambit of the project. Another goal is the upgrading of electronic medical records systems and implementing the Environmental and Health Care Waste Management Plan (EHCWMP) in, health facilities in select districts. Utilisation of Health Services is also a major component. This includes increasing the utilisation of key health services among poor and vulnerable households, as identified through the NSER, in the select districts. The UNDP plans will bring this about by implementing a conditional cash transfer programme and by providing Conditional Cash Grants (CCG) to eligible pregnant or lactating women and parents of children up to two years of age (Eligible CCG Beneficiaries). Another contributing factor will be carrying out outreach, social mobilisation and information dissemination campaigns among health service beneficiaries.

In addition, economic and social inclusion is also part of the UNDP’s development goals for Pakistan. This component comprises supplementary activities to improve economic and social inclusion of selected households. It is expected to contribute to building early childhood human capital among poverty-stricken households. The goal of economic inclusion will help in promoting the economic inclusion of poor and vulnerable eligible young parents through the provision of technical assistance, goods and training. This includes and is not limited to providing labour market readiness training, Livelihood Support Grants (LSGs) or the productive assets. It also includes intensive coaching aimed at improving adaptive productive behaviour to help increase resilience of households of the Eligible Young Parents.

The achievement of Social Inclusion for Education goal will help in strengthening the selected education programmes and initiatives.

The goal of Social Inclusion for Education will help in strengthening the selected education programmes and initiatives. This will be done by conducting an initial needs assessment, filling the gaps in learning through training of school-related staff and by developing detailed lessons. Also, a part of this will be conducting specialised early childhood education social mobilisation campaign and upgrading classroom facilities to be conducive to learning. Establishing and building capacity for a special foundational learning cell in the SED is also included in the plans.

Efficiency and Sustainability through Social Protection Services Delivery Systems and Project Management is another major component of the SDGs. This is aimed at modernising and improving coordination and interoperability of Punjab’s social protection systems and programmes by strengthening the administrative, operational, policy and planning functions and capabilities of Punjab Social Protection Authority (PSPA). Also, including the development of IT systems and technical assistance for enhancing procurement, financial management, human resources, auditing and monitoring and evaluation functions, as well as upgrading and customising their systems for identifying and mobilising programme beneficiaries, defraying benefits and rendering welfare services.

Poverty targetting will also be carried out for objective targetting based on the household poverty status. There will basically be geographic targetting of most vulnerable districts. Initially, 11 out of 36 districts in the Punjab will be prioritised. Among the 11 districts, 8 districts are from south Punjab, where poor households are concentrated. The number of districts covered by the project depends on the scope and cost of planned activities, as well as available resources. The programme will be integrated, but selective. Interventions will be integrated (addressing both demand and supply challenges) in the same set of locations within the same households, multi-sectoral (health, education, social protection) and selective (complementing existing programmes). The focus of the programme will be gender-focused. The project will address gender gaps in immunisation and school enrollment for early education, promote ante-natal care (ANC) and skilled birth attendance and address specific constraints faced by women in income-generating activities and diversification of income sources.

The aim is to learn from the challenges and improve in seven major areas to develop strong institutions. These seven pillars of Pakistan’s Vision 2025 include putting people first; achieving sustained, indigenous, and inclusive growth; democratic governance, institutional reform, and modernisation of the public sector; energy, water, and food security; growing the economy via the private sector and entrepreneurship; developing a competitive knowledge economy; and modernising transportation infrastructure. The plan is considered a long-term strategy for inclusive growth and sustainable development.

The writer is an    orthopedic surgeon and member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab