Last month, UNDP launched its 27th Human Development Report, based on a ground breaking approach that recognizes that it is people – you and I and our families and communities – who stand at the heart of development. That while economic growth is important to bringing prosperity, wealth is only a means to an end. The true measure of a country’s success lies in the wellbeing of its people, and the opportunities and choices they have to live the lives they value.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a whole is supporting various governments in implementing the Gender Equality Seal Certification Programme. This initiative aims to ensure that development interventions address women empowerment and gender equality issues, as well as create equitable conditions for women and men in the workplace, both of which are critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Certainly, the Pakistan Country Office has made significant strides in gender-related work in Pakistan. Efforts to implement the fifth SDG goal to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” are visible in the country programme across its thematic areas in about 30 projects and programmes.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) lie at the heart of inclusive markets. They are also important employers of marginalized groups such as women and youth, offering opportunities to people who may otherwise be excluded from the economic mainstream. In Pakistan, nearly 90 percent of all enterprises are SMEs, employing 80 percent of the non-agricultural workforce. They contribute 40 percent of Pakistan’s GDP and can potentially play an even greater part in economic growth and poverty alleviation.

Last year, at the Sustainable Development Summit in New York, the world’s nations came together and vowed to transform our world. Pakistan was amongst those nations, and took its commitment a big step further: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it was declared, would be Pakistan’s national development goals.

There are more young Pakistanis today than ever before. Nearly a third of the population is between 15 and 29 years of age; together these young people make up a vast pool of energy, talent and enthusiasm to build a better Pakistan. This large youth population is a great gift for any country. As the young enter employment, they form the biggest workforce in history, bringing prosperity and vigour to the national economy and to society as a whole.