Youth and the Millennium Development Goals in Pakistan
Research
shows that countries having relatively young population structures are
at greater risk for civil strife. Moreover, underdeveloped and
developing countries in which youth are devoid of representation and
basic facilities are at even higher risk. There are 62 countries
considered ‘very young’, and Pakistan is among them. According to the US
Census Bureau, Pakistan has 30.2% youth (ages 15-29) of its total
projected population.
In order to make youth a demographic dividend rather than a risk, we need to include youth in the processes, procedures, and strategies of development.
Other
problems include the energy crisis and recent floods in Pakistan. These
events have dealt a further blow to the country’s economy. Commensurate
to Pakistan’s role in the war against terrorism combined with the
effects of the natural disasters it experienced in 2010, foreign funding
is insufficient to put the country back on track to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals.
References:
International Human Development Indicators, UNDP, http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PAK.html
http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/21706.html
United Nations Development Pakistan, http://undp.org.pk/mdgs-in-pakistan.html
http://taraqee.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/pakistan-military-budget-is-10-x-health-budget/
http://www.gapminder.org/news/pakistan-military-budget-is-10-x-health-budget/
http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/09/education-emeregency-pakistan.html
http://educationemergency.com.pk/
Policy Brief, “Public and Policy Imperatives for Youth Bulge in Pakistan” By Bargad and UNFPA
Report Ministry of Finance 2010
Dr. Shahbaz Israr Khan specializes in youth issues and is the recipient of a certificate and grant from UNFPA: Youth Dividend and Youth Action for Change in Youth Advocacy and Millennium Development Goals. He was instrumental in designing the National Youth Advocacy Platform - a premier coalition of youth organizations for integrated youth development in Pakistan. He is currently pursuing his masters degree in Gender & Peace Building at the UN mandated University for Peace, Costa Rica.
In order to make youth a demographic dividend rather than a risk, we need to include youth in the processes, procedures, and strategies of development.
The
inclusion of youth in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) is a critical factor for transforming this dream into a reality.
Youth can play a role as advocates to ask governments to pay more
attention to achieving MDGs, and they can be instrumental in achieving
these goals directly. It is the responsibility of policymakers, youth
organizations and other CSO’s to ensure that they include youth in the
planning and execution of programmes and projects to pursue the 8 goals
and 21 targets of the MDGs.
A
few months back, I conducted interviews of student leaders from five
different universities in Pakistan. The interviews were designed to
gauge the level of awareness among youth regarding the MDGs. Shockingly,
out of five student leaders from five different universities, not one
of them had heard the term “MDGs”. If youth know nothing about MDGs and
their importance, how they can be the advocates and instruments of
change? Exclusion of youth in achieving the MDGs is one of the biggest
problems in the world at large, and in Pakistan in particular.
The
MDGs have been incorporated into the government’s two important
macroeconomic frameworks, including the Medium-Term Development
Framework (MTDF), which covers a five-year period from 2005-2010 and
includes the government’s key planning document on development. The
other is the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which is a
framework for social and economic policies. To date, however, sufficient
progress has only been made on about half of the targeted indicators,
while the others lag behind. Pakistan’s progress in achieving the MDGs
has been quite slow as compared to the world, and also in comparison to
the South Asian region. Between 1980 and 2010, Pakistan's Human
Development Index (HDI) rose by 1.5% annually, from 0.311 in 1980 to
0.490 today, which gives the country a rank of 125 out of 169 countries
with comparable data. The HDI of South Asia as a region increased from
0.315 in 1980 to 0.516 today, placing Pakistan below the regional
average (HDI represents a push for a broader definition of well-being
and provides a composite measure of three basic dimensions of human
development: health, education and income).
One of the impediments to achieving the MDGs in Pakistan is the peace
and security situation. Pakistan has made itself a security state
rather than a welfare state. Pakistan spends 4% of its GDP on military,
the same spent by the US, a much richer country indeed. An editorial in
the Daily Times said that the government plans to give the
military a budgetary increase of 11.7 percent by allocating Rs.495
billion for the defence budget in 2011-12, up from Rs.443 billion in the
outgoing year.
In
healthcare spending, the countries are very different! As a nation, the
US spends 15% of GDP on healthcare (the highest in the world), and of
that percentage, the US government itself spends 7% of GDP on
healthcare; whereas Pakistani health spending is only 2% as a nation,
and dramatically, of that 2%, the government’s contribution is less than
one fifth – meaning 0.4% of GDP.
The
unemployment rate in Pakistan is increasing by the day. The overall
youth unemployment rate is 8.3%, which is higher than the national
unemployment rate of 5.5%. The unemployment rate among the age group
10-14 is 8.2%, among age group 15-19 it is 10.1%, and in the age group
20-24 it is 7.8%. These figures are outrageously high and require
immediate response. Besides, there is a huge gender gap in the labor
force participation. The population living below $1.25 PPP per day is
22.59%. The value of the nation’s Gini co-efficient, measuring the rate
of income inequality, is .312. The prevalence of undernourishment among
the population is 23%, making Pakistan rank number 125 on the list,
surpassing just 44 countries.
According
to article 25 A of the constitution, primary education is the
constitutional right of the people of Pakistan, and if the government
fails to provide primary education, people may take the government to
court. Pakistan spent 2.5 percent of its budget on schooling in
2005/2006. It now spends just 1.5 percent in the area that needs it
most. This percentage is less than the subsidies given to large
enterprises PIA, PEPCO and Pakistan Steel. With this rate of investment,
there is no chance that Pakistan will achieve MDG number 2. On the
other hand, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh are doing quite well
comparatively.
There
is a separate Ministry for Women’s Welfare, but progress is too slow to
reach the the MDGs by 2015. The gender inequality index of Pakistan is
0.721, which is clear evidence that progress toward this goal is off
track.
Other
problems include the energy crisis and recent floods in Pakistan. These
events have dealt a further blow to the country’s economy. Commensurate
to Pakistan’s role in the war against terrorism combined with the
effects of the natural disasters it experienced in 2010, foreign funding
is insufficient to put the country back on track to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals.
The
problem requires an immediate response by the government, including:
government commitment, devising of strategies to include youth in
programmes and projects to achieve the MDGs, educating the international
community to increase financial assistance, and also developing
different strategies for self-reliance.
Currently,
PRSPII (Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan 2) is a living document, which,
if government, along with youth, CSOs and public partners work together
properly, may help put Pakistan back on track to achieve its MDGs. This
requires collaborative action by Pakistan’s multiple stakeholders.
References:
International Human Development Indicators, UNDP, http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PAK.html
http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/21706.html
United Nations Development Pakistan, http://undp.org.pk/mdgs-in-pakistan.html
http://taraqee.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/pakistan-military-budget-is-10-x-health-budget/
http://www.gapminder.org/news/pakistan-military-budget-is-10-x-health-budget/
http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/09/education-emeregency-pakistan.html
http://educationemergency.com.pk/
Policy Brief, “Public and Policy Imperatives for Youth Bulge in Pakistan” By Bargad and UNFPA
Report Ministry of Finance 2010
Dr. Shahbaz Israr Khan specializes in youth issues and is the recipient of a certificate and grant from UNFPA: Youth Dividend and Youth Action for Change in Youth Advocacy and Millennium Development Goals. He was instrumental in designing the National Youth Advocacy Platform - a premier coalition of youth organizations for integrated youth development in Pakistan. He is currently pursuing his masters degree in Gender & Peace Building at the UN mandated University for Peace, Costa Rica.
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