PAKISTAN’S social protection system is at a cr­­o­s­­sroads. Traditional social protection systems, while providing critical support for poverty reduction, are not designed to address the compounding challenges of climate-triggered disasters. The cou­n­try’s flagship Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) needs to integrate an adaptive social protection system that can respond to climate risks and shocks while maintaining its core poverty alleviation function. This transition can be spearheaded by the pr­­ovinces, where provincial BISP set-ups are sear­ch­ing for province-specific priorities and innovations.

BISP has emerged as the cornerstone of Pakistan’s poverty alleviation strategy. It operates largely in isolation from the country’s disaster risk management and climate adaptation efforts, resulting in inefficient resource utilisation and inadequate protection when disasters strike as has been the case in the recent floods, heatwaves, droughts, and glacial outbursts.

Pakistan’s social protection policy has evolved from welfare state approaches to targeted social assistance programmes, with BISP launched in 2008 as a globally pioneering initiative. It has successfully delivered financial assistance to millions of households with advanced beneficiary identification and sophisticated payment systems. However, it lacks mechanisms for scaling up assistance during climate-triggered disasters, integration with early warning systems and anticipatory actions to mitigate pre-disaster impacts.

Government responses to emergencies have been largely reactive rather than systematic. Critical gaps in climate response include institutional fragmentation, limited coverage, vulnerable households outside safety nets during disasters, focus on post-disaster response rather than risk reduction, inadequate data integration and predominantly reactive financing.

The 18th Amendment, 2010,........

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