By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), UN Women and the World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday signed a Joint Statement of Collaboration to strengthen gender equality, women’s empowerment and inclusive social protection services for millions of women across Pakistan.
The collaboration aims to transform social protection beyond financial assistance by enabling women to understand and claim their rights, access safe and dignified services, and benefit from opportunities for skills development, livelihoods, entrepreneurship and financial independence.
With more than 10 million women receiving quarterly financial assistance under the Benazir Kafaalat Programme, BISP provides a major platform to advance women’s empowerment and improve their economic and social well-being.
Senator Rubina Khalid, Chairperson of BISP, said the programme remained firmly committed to advancing gender-responsive social protection, promoting women’s 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,” she said.
She said the joint efforts would strengthen awareness of rights and entitlements, counselling, maternal and child health, and service quality at Benazir Nashonuma centres. The collaboration would also promote women’s skills development, livelihoods, entrepreneurship, financial and digital inclusion, while supporting the safety of female frontline staff and encouraging shared responsibilities within families.
By improving institutional coordination and harmonising efforts, the partnership aims to expand opportunities for women’s economic self-reliance and improve service delivery for BISP beneficiaries across the country, she added. Jamshed M. Kazi, Country Representative of UN Women Pakistan, said social protection was one of the most effective tools for advancing gender equality when designed with women rather than merely 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,” he said. Anita Hirsch, WFP Representative and Country Director in Pakistan, said good nutrition was closely linked to women’s health, well-being and ability to make decisions for themselves and their families.
She said the Benazir Nashonuma Programme had established an important platform for supporting women and young children during a critical stage of life.
The collaboration with UN Women would build on this foundation by strengthening gender-responsive services, addressing barriers faced by women in accessing support, and ensuring that their dignity, safety and needs remained central to programme delivery, she added.
Under the joint initiative, the three organisations will establish a Gender-Responsive Social Protection Working Group to strengthen joint planning, coordination and accountability.
The partnership will also conduct gender assessments of up to 12 Benazir Nashonuma facilitation centres across all four provinces to evaluate dignity, privacy, safety, accessibility and service quality. A Gender-Responsive Centre Framework and Checklist will support the assessment, piloting and potential expansion of improved practices.
The initiative will further assess the needs of female Nashonuma frontline staff, identifying measures to address workplace safety, protection from harassment, mobility, workload and career progression.
Another key area will be raising awareness among BISP and Nashonuma beneficiaries about their rights, entitlements and available public services, while engaging men and families to encourage shared care responsibilities, maternal nutrition and women’s participation in household decision-making.
The partnership will also strengthen pathways to economic independence by connecting women with skills development, livelihood opportunities, entrepreneurship and financial and digital inclusion initiatives.
Institutional capacity-building measures will include technical support for finalising BISP’s Gender Strategy, documenting the programme’s impact on women’s lives, and joint advocacy and resource mobilisation for women’s skills development and empowerment programmes.
The collaboration supports Pakistan’s commitments under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 1 on ending poverty, SDG 2 on zero hunger and SDG 5 on gender equality, as well as the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Pakistan.
