WB country director praises BISP

Country Director World Bank Racheed bin Masud lauded the efforts of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) here at the BISP Secretariat on Tuesday. According to a media communiqué, Masud appreciated the role of the BISP in poverty alleviation and said that BISP and the World Bank will continue working together as partners to achieve the desired objectives. He said that BISP has now become a role model for other developing countries in the region and President of the World Bank himself is a great supporter of the programme.
Chairperson BISP Farzana Raja, said that the programme is playing a vital role in the fight against poverty and terrorism. “Poverty and terrorism are interlinked. Thus, the steps of BISP with regard to poverty eradication are also helping in the fight against terrorism,” she said. Raja also briefed the WB country director on the various initiatives offered by the BISP including Waseela-e-Haq, Waseela-e-Rozgar and Life Insurance Scheme.
She said thorough surveys have helped in gathering valuable data on poverty which would prove instrumental for informed policy making in future. She said efforts are being made to develop BISP into an institution having ‘inbuilt self-corrective mechanism’ to ensure objectivity, transparency and sustainability of the institution. Mr Iftikhar Malik, Senior Social Protection Specialist World Bank and secretary BISP were also present on the occasion.