Pakistan National Human Development Report

“The real wealth of a nation is its people. And the purpose of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy, and creative lives. This simple but powerful truth is too often forgotten in the pursuit of material and financial wealth” 

Dr. Mahbub ul Haq

UNDP Pakistan launched its second National Human Development Report - Unleashing the potential of a Young Pakistan authored by Dr. Adil Najam and Dr. Faisal Bari.

The Report focuses on the youth as a critical force for shaping human development, because Pakistan currently has the largest generation of young people ever in its history, with about two-thirds of the total population under 30 years of age. This includes children under 15 who will be tomorrow's youth. While, youth cohort defined as those between 15-29 years of age, currently forms nearly a third of the country's total population. As a section of the populace that is transiting to adulthood, this ‘youth bulge' will prove to be either a dividend or a disaster for the country, depending on if Pakistan invests in youth by providing them with quality education, quality employment, and meaningful engagement opportunities. However, it is imperative to invest in the youth now, today, while they are still youth; not only to enhance the personal wellbeing of the youth but also to enhance the country’s human development.

Life changing stories

We work collectively with Pakistan's people and government on developing & supporting nationally-driven solutions to challenges & improving livelihoods.

What exactly do we do and who is involved? Take a look at the people we work with and projects we do in Pakistan.

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UNDP in Pakistan: Annual Report 2019

In 2019, UNDP continued its decades-long partnership with the government and people of Pakistan, finding and implementing sustainable solutions to improve governance, increase resilience, protect the environment and sustain development. We do this as part of the United Nations System, working together as One UN to support Pakistan's vision to improve the lives of all its people.

The year 2019 brought new challenges for Pakistan and for UNDP's work in the country. Pakistan experienced challenging economic conditions as growth slowed to 3.3% and the exchange rate depreciated, austerity measures were introduced in the context of structural reforms. This posed challenges for Pakistan's largest-ever generation of young people now entering the workforce. 

In this context, we supported the government in taking bold steps to meet its challenges. This year saw the launch of the Prime Minister's Kamyab Jawan programme, a youth development initiative which  Read more. . . 

CLICK HERE to download the pdf report

What we do

UNDP is working with the Government of Pakistan, civil society, national partners and the people of Pakistan to help find solutions to persistent development challenges.

We work to build lasting institutional capacity, provide technical expertise to improve development outcomes, and help link the Government and people of Pakistan to innovative global solutions in areas such as improved data quality and collection, better environmental management, climate change finance and adaptation, strong and accountable governance mechanisms and capacities to respond effectively to conflict and disasters.

CLICK HERE to view our on-going projects.