menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

The neglected crisis

404 1
14.07.2025

DESPITE the alarming state of human development in Pakistan, policy actions to address this don’t figure in the government’s top priorities. Most indicators of literacy, education, health, poverty, gender disparity and other aspects of human welfare have deteriorated in recent years, but these issues barely come up in parliamentary or public debate. The media too pays little attention to the human development deficit as the recent discussion of the budget lays bare. There has been virtually no focus in TV programmes on the abysmally low government spending on the social sector.

True, the country’s persistent macroeconomic crisis and rising debt burden have preoccupied governments and sharply limited the attention and resources directed to human development. But this reflects a failure to acknowledge that economic progress is intrinsically linked to investment in human capital. The country’s growth and development prospects are severely constrained by the lack of such investment. This has serious implications for Pakistan’s economic future.

The overall picture of various dimensions of human development remains exceedingly grim. The UNDP’s latest global Human Development Report of 2025 puts Pakistan in the ‘low’ human development category with a rank of 168 out of 193 countries in the Human Development Index. In its 2023 report Pakistan Human Capital Review, the World Bank says Pakistan faces a “silent, deep human capital crisis” which will adversely affect its future economic trajectory.

No issue is more important for the country’s future than the coverage and quality of education available to our children. Yet Pakistan still has the world’s second highest number........

© Dawn