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12 December 2019, Islamabad — UNDP in Pakistan launched the Human Development Report 2019, today, at Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Headquarters. The Human Development Report 2019 entitled, ‘Beyond Income, Beyond Averages, Beyond Today: Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century’ was launched on 9 December in Bogota, Colombia.
“The Global HDR puts a lot of emphasis on going ‘beyond today’ to study inequality”, Mr. Ignacio Artaza, Resident Representative, a.i. of UNDP Pakistan stated. “This means that we cannot solve the problem of inequality if we fail to understand the factors that will shape it in the future. The Pakistan NHDR has a similar philosophy, hoping to put together a holistic brief on inequality reduction in the country that aims to bridge the gap between the richest and the poorest quintiles in Pakistan.”
The launch included a panel discussion on the 2019 Human Development Report. Panelists present included Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha- Member National Assembly; Dr. Sabine Alkire- Director, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative; and Ms. Shandana Gulzar Khan- Member, National Assembly of Pakistan.
Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and BISP Chairperson closed the launch, while highlighting efforts that have been made to reduce inequality in Pakistan, and emphasizing more efforts required to enable the poor starts to graduate out of poverty.
This year’s report shows that a new generation of severe inequalities in human development is emerging, even as the gap is narrowing on many of the unresolved inequalities of the 20th century. These emerging dynamics -- under the shadow of the climate crisis and technological change— demand new approaches in policies at national and global levels.
To this end, the latest Pakistan National Human Development Report on Inequality next year will lay out some targeted policy recommendations that can help provide more focused guidance to federal and provincial governments.
Read the 2019 Human Development Report here
For additional information, please contact Ayesha Babar at ayesha.babar@undp.org or +92 (51) 835 5650
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