The Second National Social Protection Conference took place in Karachi from 24th to 26th February 2025. This landmark event was made possible with the support of Team Europe, including the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It was organized by GIZ Pakistan in collaboration with federal and provincial governments and in partnership with the KfW Development Bank, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the United Nations.
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Pakistan faces multi-dimensional vulnerabilities, including economic shocks, climate change, and disaster risks that disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Strengthening social protection systems is crucial to ensuring resilience and sustainable development.
The 1st National Social Protection Conference played a key role in fostering dialogue and commitments to enhance the efficiency, inclusivity, and resilience of Pakistan’s social protection system. Let’s have a look back on what we jointly agreed for the 1st National Social Protection Conference in Bhurban in 2023.
by Speaker / Designation
9:00am - 9:30am
by Speaker / Designation
9:30am - 9:35am
by Speaker / Designation
9:35am - 9:40am
by Ms. Maria-Jose Poddey / GIZ, Country Director
9:40am - 9:50am
by Mr. Amer Ali Ahmad / Secretary BISP (TBC)
by Ms. Johanna Knoess / GIZ Head of Social Protection
9:50am - 10:00am
by Mr. Ruediger Lotz / German Consul General
10:00am - 10:05am
by NN / EU (TBC)
10:05am - 10:10am
by Ms. Masuma Zaidi / Senior Sector Specialist (Health & Social Protection), KfW
by Ms. Sofia Shakil / Director Human & Social Development, ADB and NN, World Bank (TBC)
10:10am - 10:25am
by Madam Senator Rubina Khalid / Chairperson BISP
10:25am - 10:35am
by Mr. Syed Murad Ali Shah / Chief Guest, CM Sindh (TBC)
10:35am - 10:50am
by Mr. Jost Wagner
10:50am - 10:20am
by Speaker / Designation
10:20am - 11:50am
by Ms. Melis Guven / Lead Economist and Global Lead for Social Protection Delivery Systems, World Bank
10:50am - 12:00pm
Building Block 1: Policy, Institutions & Partnerships for Social Protection
Session 1: Collaborative Governance: The Role of the Provinces in Pakistan’s Social Protection Landscape
by Mr. Yusuf Khan / Ex-Secretary Pakistan Administrative Services
12:00pm - 12:10pm
by Frank Schneider / GIZ, Senior Policy Advisor
by Mr. Shahzad Cheema, MoPASS / Joint Secretary
by Mr. Ali Shehzad / PSPA Punjab, CEO (TBC)
by Mr. Samiullah Shaikh / SSPA Sindh, CEO
by Ms. Shazia Atta / Chief of Section (Social Protection) KP
by Mr. Imran Baloch / Chief of Section Foreign Aid, Balochistan
by Mr. Zafar Taj / Secretary Social Welfare Department GB
12:10pm - 01:20pm
by Speaker / Designation
01:20pm - 01:30pm
by Speaker / Designation
01:30pm - 02:30pm
Marketplace on Research and Evidence
by Speaker / Designation
02:30pm - 02:40pm
by Speaker / Designation
02:40pm - 03:30pm
by Speaker / Designation
03:30pm - 04:00pm
Building Block 2: Financing Social Protection
Session 2: Charting the Path for Collaborative Planning and Sustainable Financing in Social Protection
by Ms. Maheen Zahra / Senior Consultant, Poverty and Social Protection Practice, Oxford Policy Management
04:00pm - 04:10pm
by Mr. Ali Raza Bhutta
04:10pm - 04:20pm
by Ms. Nasheeta Mohsin / Ministry of Finance Special Secretary (TBC)
by Mr. Adeel Shah / Secretary P&D KP
by NN / Chairman P&D Balochistan (TBC)
by NN / Chairman P&D Punjab (TBC)
by Mr. Najam Shah / Chairman P&D Sindh (TBC)
by Mr. Irshad Ahmad Quereshi / Secretary Social Welfare Department AJK
04:20pm - 05:00pm
by Speaker / Designation
05:00pm - 05:10pm
by Speaker / Designation
05:10pm - 05:30pm
by Speaker / Designation
05:30pm - 06:15pm
by Speaker / Designation
09:00am - 09:30am
by Ambassadors / KfW and TBD
09:30am - 09:40am
Session 3: Leveraging Climate Risk Transfer Instruments for Adaptive Social Protection (including Global Shield)
by Mr. Ali Tauqeer / Member of Board of Directors, Loss and Damage Fund
09:40am - 09:50am
by Ms. Sobiah Becker / Advisor Pak-German Climate and Energy Partnership, GIZ
by Ms. Romina Khurshid Alam / Special Assistant to PM on Climate Change (TBC)
by Ms. Sana Ehsan / Financing for Development Analyst/National Project Coordinator, UNDP
by NN / Climate and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program (CDREP) and BRACE project by ADB
by Ms. Ermioni Sokou / Social Inclusion and Protection, Health and Demography Unit, EU INTPA
09:50am - 10:50am
by Speaker / Designation
10:50am - 11:00am
by Speaker / Designation
11:00am - 11:30am
Building Block 3: Data and Information for Social Protection
Session 4: Digital Infrastructure for Adaptive Social Protection
by Mr. Ralf Rademacher / DCI group
11:30am - 11:40am
by Mr. Naveed Akbar / DG BISP
by Mr. Mubushar Hussain / NDRMF, NatCat model
by Mr. Musaver Shah / Project Director Gender and Child Cell, PDMA KP, Multi hazard vulnerability assessments and social protection
by Mr. Muhammad Javaid Ismail / Director BPRD, State Bank of Pakistan
by Mr. Rehman Qamar / NADRA
by Mr. Arif Goheer / Executive Director at the Global Change Impact Studies Centre, GCISC (TBC)
11:40am - 12:20am
by Dr. Hashim / Digital Ambassador, ASP
by Dr. Haider Abbas / DG National CERT
12:20am - 12:45am
by Speaker / Designation
12:45am - 01:00pm
by Speaker / Designation
01:00pm - 02:00pm
Session 5: Coming Together – Sharing Knowledge – Bringing Social Protection to the Next Level in Pakistan and Tea
by Jost Wagner
02:00pm - 03:30pm
by Speaker / Designation
03:30pm - 04:00pm
Building Block 4: Programmes and Delivery Systems for Adaptive Social Protection
Session 6: Latest Interventions in Social Protection
by Ms. Meriem El Harouchi
04:00pm - 04:10pm
by Mr. Frank Schneider / Senior Policy Advisor, GIZ, Digital and Financial Literacy: Path Towards Financial Inclusion
by Ms. Fehmida Khan / Gender Advisor, Social Behavior Change Communication, UNICEF
by Mr. Taimoor Ali / Chief Digital Officer, Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment, Karandaaz
by Ms. Alba Riono Souto / Global Gateways and Social Protection, EU INTPA
by Ms. Melis Guven / Hybrid Social Protection, World Bank
by Ms. Zeina Sifri / SOPRAN Project, Gates Foundation (TBC)
04:10pm - 04:40pm
by Speaker / Designation
04:40pm - 04:50pm
Session 7: Role of Evidence and Research in Social Protection
by Dr. Sohail Anwar / (TBC)
04:50pm - 05:00pm
by Ms. Maheen Zahra / KfW feasibility study
by Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta / Nashonuma midline study
by Ms. Zaineb Majoka / WB NSER study
by Mr. Muhammad Abid / Climate Risk Profiles, GIZ
by Dr. Asim Ijaz / Director General BISP.
Social Protection Delivery System on Wheels: A case study of mobile registration vehicles in Pakistan.
05:00pm - 05:30pm
by Speaker / Designation
07:00pm - 08:00pm
by Speaker / Designation
08:00pm - 09:30pm
by Speaker / Designation
09:00am - 09:30am
by Ambassadors / GIZ and TBD
09:30am - 09:40am
Session 8: From Preparation to Recovery: Building Resilience Across the Disaster Lifecycle
by Dr. Abid Sulehri / Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute
09:40am - 09:50am
by Mr. Raza Iqbal / NDMA
by Mr. Imdad Hussain /Mr. Shahyan Shah / PDMA Sindh
by Mr. Irfan Ali Khan / Mr. Nisar Ahmed Sani / PDMA Punjab
by Mr. Ismail Khan / DRM Specialist, PDMA KP
by Mr. Asghar Ali Jamali / PDMA Balochistan
09:50am - 10:20am
by Ms. Sadaf Zulfiqar / Education Specialist, UNICEF
by Ms. Xin Long / Mr. Mansoor Ali Masood / ADB
by Ms. Coco Ushiyama / Country Director, WFP
by Dr. Luo Dapeng / WHO, Representative (TBC)
by Mr. Geir Tonstol / Country Director, ILO (TBC)
by Ms. Florence Rolle / FAO Representative (TBC)
10:20am - 10:50am
by Speaker / Designation
10:50am - 11:00am
by Speaker / Designation
11:00am - 11:30am
Session 9: Building Resilience Through Sustainable Livelihoods
by Mr. Ghulam Nabi Marri / Country Programme Coordinator, IFAD
11:30am - 11:40am
by Mr. Amjad Saqib / Founder, Akhuwat Foundation
by Mr. Ali Kemal / Chief SDG Unit P&D
by Ms. Raania Rizvi / Gates Foundation on Lives and Livelihood Fund (LLF) (TBC)
11:40am - 12:10pm
by Mr. Ghulam Nabi Marri / Country Programme Coordinator, IFFAD
by Mr. Arshad Rashid / Chief Programs, PPAF
by Dr. Muhammad Ahsan Riaz / Programme Director, NPGP
by Mr. Asim Khan / Chief Executive Officer, Punjab Skill Development Fund
by Mr. Muhammad Dittal Kalhoro / CEO SRSO
by Mr. Khurram Butt / Senior Project Officer (Education and Skills Development) ADB
12:10pm - 12:50pm
by Speaker / Designation
12:50pm - 01:00pm
by Speaker / Designation
01:00pm - 02:00pm
Session 10: Way Forward and Future Collaboration
by Ms. Johanna Knoess / Head of Social Protection, GIZ
02:00pm - 02:15pm
by Drafting Team / Input from conference participants
02:15pm - 03:30pm
by Speaker / Designation
03:30pm - 04:00pm
Closing Remarks
by Government Representative / From Punjab (TBC)
by Mr. Rafique Shaikh / Secretary Social Protection Department, Sindh
by Government Representative / From Balochistan (TBC)
by Government Representative /From KP (TBC)
04:00pm - 04:20pm
by Ms. Johanna Knoess / Head of Social Protection, GIZ
04:20pm - 04:30pm
by Mr. Navid Ahmed Sheikh / Secretary Poverty Alleviation
04:30pm - 04:40pm
by Mr. Sarfaraz Rajar / Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sindh (SACM) on Social Protection, Government of Sindh (TBC)
04:40pm - 04:50pm
by Mr. Syed Asif Hyder Shah / Chief Secretary Sindh (TBC)
04:50pm - 05:00pm
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