ISLAMABAD, September 10: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and the Gates Foundation have discussed expanding cooperation on digital and financial literacy, maternal and child health, skills development and grievance redressal for millions of women beneficiaries and their families.
A high-level Gates Foundation delegation led by Dr Anita Zaidi, President of the Gender Equality Division and Interim President of the Global Policy and Advocacy Division, met BISP Chairperson Senator Rubina Khalid at the programme’s headquarters in Islamabad on Thursday.
The discussions included a proposal for an initial pilot programme covering 10 districts across Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to BISP.
BISP says 9.7 million free SIMs issued
Briefing the delegation on BISP’s digital transformation, Senator Rubina Khalid said 9.7 million free SIMs had been issued to women beneficiaries under the Digital Wallet initiative.
The initiative is aimed at expanding beneficiaries’ access to digital financial services and improving the transparency of BISP payments.
The two sides discussed digital and financial literacy training in regional languages, alongside measures to strengthen grievance redressal mechanisms.
They also explored using BISP Nashonuma Centres to provide women with counselling on maternal and child health and immunisation.
Khalid stressed the importance of delivering awareness and behaviour-change information in local languages to improve its reach among beneficiaries.
Skills development also discussed
The BISP chairperson also briefed the delegation on the Benazir Hunarmand Programme, which provides market-oriented skills training to beneficiaries and their family members.
She stressed the need for quality training and internationally recognised certifications to help participants develop skills relevant to employment opportunities.
Dr Zaidi welcomed BISP’s progress on the Digital Wallet initiative and highlighted maternal and child health, savings and customised skills development as areas where interventions could support beneficiaries.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of Karandaaz Pakistan and senior BISP officials.
BISP said around 2.1 million beneficiaries have been enrolled in the Benazir Nashonuma Programme, while 4.2 million beneficiaries have graduated from the programme so far.
The discussions form part of efforts to link financial inclusion with health awareness, skills development and stronger social protection services for women and their families.