The Kafaalat program is one of many Ehsaas programs that work to increase mobile phone access for women and girls. Other Ehsaas initiatives include “graduation” programs that are designed to help people transition out of poverty.
134 new poverty-focused policy actions and programs
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $200 million towards the Ehsaas initiative, a comprehensive plan to combat poverty, improve nutrition, and promote financial inclusion. The foundation’s support includes development expertise and funding for 134 new poverty-focused policy actions and programmes. These policies include health care, water sanitation, and educational facilities.
The Ehsaas Program aims to provide quality education and financial access to healthcare to 10 million families nationwide. It also provides various scholarships and educational incentives to 5 million students to ensure that they can afford higher education. In addition, it pledges to increase financial and digital inclusion for seven million people, and to ensure that ninety percent of women are financially independent.
The Ehsaas has evolved over the years into an integrated anti-poverty service with 114 new poverty-focused policy actions and programs. These policies are focused on addressing elite capture, protecting the most vulnerable groups, improving human capital development, and creating jobs and livelihoods.
Many countries are introducing new poverty-focused policies and programs to help the poor get back on their feet. The Emergency Cash Program, for example, was launched in April, but it relies on mobile phone registration and national IDs. This creates a gender gap that leaves women disproportionately excluded from the program.
In the past, policymakers have largely ignored the problem of poverty. Today, more than forty percent of children born into abject poverty will live in this lowest income quintile for their entire lives. Only ten percent will escape poverty in their lifetime. Despite these numbers, there has been progress in the last decade. The new government has stepped up its efforts, but long-term sustainability is still lacking.
Kafaalat is the unconditional cash transfer program
Kafaalat is an initiative by the government that provides unconditional cash transfers to low-income households and a savings account to deserving families. The program is a part of the parallel Ehsaas policy and aims to increase access to information and digital technologies for women. The program is also aimed at increasing mobile phone access among women.
In order to participate in the program, individuals must have an identity card and be registered for the program. Those who are not registered will not be able to receive the cash. The system is easy to use and uses a “rule-based” analytic system. To register, individuals send an SMS to a special phone line and submit a national ID or social security number. This data is then compared to predetermined poverty levels and those who meet the criteria will receive a confirmatory SMS. Payments through the program are made through two commercial banks. In addition, branchless retail agents will handle the cash disbursements.
The Ehsaas program has been in place for fifteen months and has launched several initiatives since its launch in March 2019. The program was launched on March 27, 2019, by Prime Minister Imran Khan and has become Pakistan’s largest ever initiative to eradicate poverty. Since then, the program has been implemented in various cities and districts across the country.
While the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program is aimed at women, the government is failing to prioritize the enrollment of women in the program. This is a missed opportunity that can cause economic gender equality to regress. The Pakistani government should take steps to make it easier for women to enroll in the program.
Ehsaas Rashan
The Government of Pakistan has launched a new initiative, dubbed Ehsaas Kafalat, which has benefited over 5.72 million families, and will benefit another seven million. The program aims to increase financial inclusion and promote access to digital services for the poor, and supports the economic empowerment of women. It also focuses on eradicating poverty, strengthening human capital, and overcoming financial barriers to health.
A national socio-economic registry is being implemented nationwide to collect socio-economic data for better programmatic targeting. The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program targets an additional 7.5 million people and uses the National Socio-Economic Registry to determine eligibility. The minimum score for a Category II program is 32 or lower.
This program is being offered through SMS to people who meet certain criteria. Those who are eligible will receive a payment of Rs. 2,000 every month. However, those who cannot participate in these programs will be eligible for the Emergency Cash Program, which pays out a flat rate of Rs. 12,000 over a period of four months.
Besides the Emergency Cash Program, Ehsaas also supports a number of other programs. The Prime Minister’s Covid-19 Fund, langar programs, and wage subsidies for laid-off workers are only a few of the programs. These social policy measures are designed to help individuals and families in difficult situations.
A recent study by Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies found that Pakistan’s Ehsaas program is the international standard for a progressive welfare state. It has been called the flagship initiative of former PM Imran Khan’s government to combat poverty. The Ehsaas program includes 134 policies and programs and is implemented by 34 federal agencies. The program addresses poverty, livelihoods, and human capital development. In addition, the program aims to provide improved health care coverage and expanded educational opportunities.
Ehsaas Amdan is a program to help deserving people graduate out of poverty
The Ehsaas Amdan programme will provide stipends to two million poor families with one or more disabled members. It will also provide 80,000 interest-free loans a month for four years, with half of them allocated to women. Since the start of the programme, over fifty thousand undergraduate scholarships have been awarded to deserving individuals, and the government is hoping that this figure will double in the next few years.
The aim of the Ehsaas Amdan programme is to create opportunities for deserving people to earn an income and graduate out of poverty. It is expected to impact 1.4 million people in Pakistan. The programme will start in 375 Rural Union Councils across 23 of the country’s poorest districts.
The Ehsaas Amdan programme will provide interest-free loans for business development in some areas. The program will also track the beneficiaries, giving them annual updates. A further focus of the programme is to improve the health of deserving people.
The Ehsaas Amdan programme aims to help the most vulnerable people out of poverty. The program provides them with assets, vocational training, and Interest Free Loans. With these assets, deserving individuals can invest in their future by buying a home, opening a business, or going to school.
The Ehsaas Amdan program is being implemented by the government of Pakistan. The lead implementing agency for the Amdan programme is the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund. PPAF works through local village level organizations to support the Ehsaas Amdan programme in a more sustainable way. These local village level organizations will procure assets and distribute them to the households through their respective communities. To ensure the program’s effectiveness, the PPAF has implemented community procurement processes in order to promote accountability.
The Ehsaas Amdan program was launched on March 27, 2019 and is made up of many transformative initiatives. It includes Kafaalat, Undergraduate Scholarship, Nashonuma, and Emergency Cash. These programs touch half of the country and have provided support to millions of deserving individuals. In the last five years, the program has provided a one-time cash grant to more than 14 million households. Furthermore, the Emergency Cash programme alone has disbursed Rs. 179 billion to eligible families.
Ehsaas Amdan is a program to increase women’s mobile phone access
The program aims to provide subsidized mobile phones to women. The government has donated smartphones to deserving women, so that they can easily make calls and send and receive messages. This initiative has also increased women’s access to financial services. It provides a secure and easy way for women to manage their finances. In addition, the government is helping women get more education.
The program aims to cover more than 3 million beneficiaries under the Emergency Cash Program. It also intends to provide mobile phones to individuals with incomes below Rs 20,000. A six-monthly stipend for eligible recipients is now higher than ever, and the government is taking steps to prevent fraudulent deductions.
As part of the program, the government will provide women with stipends of Rs 2,000 every month. The program also aims to help women get education and jobs, resulting in economic empowerment. The money will come to eligible women in a variety of ways. For example, some women are receiving stipends to attend school, while others may receive scholarships for higher education.
The success of these initiatives is contingent upon addressing the underlying barriers that prevent women from using mobile phones. While most programs for free phones focus on addressing the cost of handsets, the cost of ongoing phone services is also a significant barrier to women’s use. Further, women may not be aware of digital financial literacy or how to use the phone for personal purposes.
