Image Credits: Associated Press of Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Sep 7 (APP): Director General National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) Hassan Baig said on Monday the government is making all-out efforts to tackle the COVID19 pandemic and its impact especially providing essential health services to the vulnerable and needy and protecting the health systems.
While addressing a senior management meeting here he said the government had also launched multi-sectoral initiatives to mitigate the effects of this pandemic on economy, livelihoods and other sectors. He said donors, UN agencies, International and national humanitarians actors/NGOs supported the Government of Pakistan well in the tough situation.
DG NCHD said that it is important to have the situation analysed by conducting a comprehensive assessment analysis as that will help the government and humanitarian agencies in understanding the overall impact and the proportion of population at risk.
The assessment will provide knowledge about the extent of vulnerability across geographics and various demographics, he further added. In addition it will give a look into the level at which humanitarian organizations and government authorities are responding to the pillars identified in National Action Plan (NAP) for the pandemic, he informed.
While elaborating the statistics he said the report of IMF projects that 40 percent of Pakistanis are living below the poverty line in COVID19’s viral wake. Nearly 22 million children are now out of school, while 17 million children under five are missing routine vaccinations. An additional 2.45 million people—beyond an existing 40 million—now suffer food insecurity, the study finds. Real GDP growth is expected to slow due to downturns in services and manufacturing.
Agriculture had also lagged down due to lockdowns and disruption in transportation, logistical support, labor, and access to inputs for the next planting season, he briefed.
The commission which is mandated with the role to support and augment human development across the country had inked an MOU with Islamic Rescue Committee (IRC-IVAP) to conduct Coordinated Gap Analysis (CGA) at a national level in the four provinces and the federal capital (Khyber Pakhtunkhaw, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and ICT).
This analysis will provide an understanding how, why and the context in which humans and communities response allows anticipating unwanted scenarios and initiate mitigating measures.
Secondly, the analysis will generate information that will become evidence for strategic planning, program implementation and response monitoring during the COVID19 outbreak. NCHD being the implementer will conduct this analysis in 41 districts covering 16,400 households.
DG NCHD Hassan Baig further stressed that premeditated, strategic and joint efforts are required to mitigate the impact of COVID19 on the social, economic and fiscal scenario.
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