Islamabad : UNDP hosted a high-level webinar on ‘#NextGenGov- Whole of the Government Integrated Social Protection Policy Response to COVID-19’ today. The regional learning session brought together senior policymakers spearheading ‘whole of government’ approach in their social protection policies and systems to reflect on the lessons of COVID-19. Three countries were invited- Pakistan, Malaysia and Canada. Together with Dr. Sania Nishtar,Dr. Jamila Mahmood, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Pia Andrews Advisor to Government of Canada shared the ‘whole of government’experiences in their respective countries.
The webinar aimed to enable learning and sharing the international experiences to help add value to the other governments keen to redesign their social protection policies and recalibrating their governance approaches post-COVID-19. The event mainly featured real time provocations around “Whole of Government” approach to social protection, inter-ministerial coordination and new institutional modalities and investment priorities that emerged in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis and whether governments will be able to carry over this “collaboration premium” generated by the crisis into the future of social protection.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sania outlined the experience of Ehsaas Emergency Cash and how the programme pioneered a new policy approach. She explained, “The experience demonstrated how cash transfer programmes can be deployed to counter socioeconomic fallouts due to external shocks such as COVID-19 which present a long-term predicament.”Dr. Sania then described how a ‘whole of the government approach was adopted to deliver emergency cash assistance to 15 million daily wage earners countywide. She summarized how the crucial dependencies had been deep rooted in the methodology of the emergency cash programme including successful collaborations with NADRA, State Bank of Pakistan, provincial and district governments in union councils, public representatives and agencies responsible for law and order.
Further, Dr. Sania explained the role of Cabinet approvals when fiscal measures had to be taken to incentivize payment retailers. She also discussed how volunteers helped in the programme execution and how different agencies of the government were involved in beneficiary centered communications particularly the role of Radio Pakistanand PTV in providing a national hook up space for public announcements.
Concluding the discussion, Dr. Sania highlighted that it was not just whole of the government approach but also public private with regard to the role of commercial banks and actors involved in providing connectivity which enabled real time authentications in the field.