Islamabad - Dr Romulo Paes de Sousa, Director World Centre for Sustainable Development, Yasuhiko Matsuda, Senior Specialist from World Bank and Iftikhar Malik, Senior Social Protection Specialist, World Bank called on Chairman BISP Enver Baig at BISP Secretariat on Wednesday. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss matters of mutual cooperation for the benefit of the poorest of the poor population of Pakistan.
During the meeting, Enver Baig said that any proposals for the benefit of the poorest segments of Pakistani society will be greeted by the Programme. He added that BISP is venturing into a new era where beneficiaries will not only benefit from cash transfer schemes, but also from vocational and technical training. He apprised the participants of meeting about the vision and efforts of BISP to take people out of poverty through skill development initiative.
Enver Baig also commended the efforts of World Bank in BISP and added that any future support for the welfare of the poorest will also be welcomed. He remarked that it is the vision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to make BISP a success story by pushing it to benefit maximum number of beneficiaries across the country.
Dr. Romulo Paes de Sousa appreciated the design and efforts of BISP and the devotion of current government towards the welfare of poor people. He gave a briefing about Bolsa Familia Programme of Brazil and said that best model needs to be in place to make social protection successful with enthusiastic participation of both provincial and federal setup. During the meeting, World Bank representatives offered full support to Chairman BISP in designing a setup for improving cooperation between provinces and federal government through improved knowledge sharing mechanisms.

World Bank also proposed to conduct a study for improvement of access to basic services, like health and education, for BISP beneficiaries, through Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes. Talking about the exemplary model of BISP, Chairman BISP was informed that Nigeria and Ghana are looking forward to replication of BISP model in their respective countries.