The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), UN Women and the World Food Programme (WFP) today signed a Joint Statement of Collaboration to strengthen the integration of gender equality and women\u2019s empowerment into Pakistan\u2019s largest social protection system for the women it serves not only as recipients of cash, but as rights-holders, decision-makers and economic actors. With more than 10 million women receiving quarterly support under the Benazir Kafaalat Programme, BISP is one of the most powerful platforms in the country for reaching women directly. The partnership aims to turn that reach into lasting change: women who know and claim their entitlements, service centres designed around their dignity and safety, and clear pathways from social assistance to skills, livelihoods and financial independence.Senator Rubina Khalid, Chairperson of BISP, said, \u201cBISP is firmly committed to advancing gender-responsive social protection, promoting women\u2019s economic empowerment, and making its services more inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities. Our collaboration with UN Women and WFP will help ensure that social protection services are safe, accessible and responsive to the needs of women and vulnerable communities.\u201dShe further added, \u201cThrough integrated efforts, we will strengthen awareness of rights and entitlements, counselling, maternal and child health, and the quality of services at Benazir Nashonuma centres. We will also promote women\u2019s skills development, livelihoods, entrepreneurship, and financial and digital inclusion, while supporting the safety of women frontline staff and encouraging shared responsibilities within families. By harmonizing our efforts and strengthening institutional coordination, we aim to achieve better outcomes, expand opportunities for women\u2019s economic self-reliance, and make life easier for BISP beneficiaries across Pakistan\u201dMr. Jamshed M. Kazi, Country Representative of UN Women Pakistan, said, \u201cSocial protection is one of the most powerful tools a country has to advance gender equality, when it is designed with women and not only for them. Pakistan has built one of the largest cash transfer programmes for women anywhere. Our shared ambition is to see this system, reaching millions of women, go beyond financial assistance to strengthen their voice, their safety and their economic choices, while engaging men and families as partners in that change.\u201dMs Anita Hirsch, WFP Representative and Country Director in Pakistan, said, \u201cGood nutrition is closely linked to women\u2019s health, well-being and ability to make decisions for themselves and their families. Through the Benazir Nashonuma Programme, WFP and BISP have established an important platform to support women and young children during a critical stage of life. Our collaboration with UN Women will build on this foundation by strengthening gender-responsive services, addressing barriers women face when accessing support, and ensuring that their dignity, safety and needs remain central to programme delivery.\u201dThe collaboration contributes directly to Pakistan\u2019s commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals on ending poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2) and gender equality (SDG 5), and to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Pakistan.About the Joint Commitment to Gender-Responsive Social Protection and Women\u2019s Economic Empowerment: The partnership seeks to translate outreach into lasting change by enabling women to understand and claim their rights, ensuring that service centres uphold their dignity, privacy and safety, and strengthening pathways from social assistance to skills development, livelihoods and financial independence. Key areas of collaboration include establishing a Gender-Responsive Social Protection Working Group to strengthen joint planning, coordination and accountability across the three institutions; conducting gender assessments of up to 12 Benazir Nashonuma facilitation centres across all four provinces to assess dignity, privacy, safety, accessibility and service quality, supported by a Gender-Responsive Centre Framework and Checklist for piloting and scale-up; and assessing the needs of female Nashonuma frontline staff to identify measures addressing workplace safety, protection from harassment, mobility, workload and career progression. The partnership will also strengthen awareness among BISP and Nashonuma beneficiaries of their rights, entitlements and available public services, while engaging men and families to promote shared care responsibilities, maternal nutrition and women\u2019s participation in household decision-making. Furthermore, it will strengthen pathways to economic independence by linking women with skills development, livelihoods, entrepreneurship, and financial and digital inclusion opportunities. Institutional capacity-building will include technical support to finalize BISP\u2019s Gender Strategy, documenting BISP\u2019s impact on women\u2019s lives, and advancing joint advocacy and resource mobilization for women\u2019s skills development and empowerment programmes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), UN Women and the World Food Programme (WFP) today signed a Joint<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-newsbeat"],"yoast_head":"\n