May 2020, South Asia 
Immediate relief for Pakistan’s pandemic-stricken poor
AMJAD ZAFAR KHAN 

The unprecedented emergency posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) will have a devastating impact on the lives of the poor. Nearly 24 percent of Pakistan’s 210 million people are below the poverty line. The country requires a rapid response to protect its poor from becoming even worse off. 

The national lockdown imposed on March 13 is a necessary pre-emptive step to contain the health emergency. But it compounds socioeconomic risks for the vulnerable who have lost their jobs or can’t access health and social programs.

In addition, the pandemic puts women, who are already disadvantaged in the labor force, at greater risk as they carry the invisible burden of caring for the sick, elderly, and children.  One of Pakistan’s initial measures, with support from the World Bank, was to expand its national safety net institution, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), to direct additional support to its 4.5 million women beneficiaries.