Sania speaks at Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s apex event on poverty alleviation

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was invited to speak at the apex level event with heads of ministries and agencies of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Poverty Alleviation. Jamshid Kuchkarov, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, Republic of Uzbekistan hosted the event in Tashkent.
The event was attended by heads and representatives of the ministries and agencies of the SCO member states on poverty alleviation, as well as representatives of SCO Secretariat.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Sania thanked the SCO secretariat for encouraging all the members for cooperation in the field of poverty alleviation as it was outlined in the Action Plan for 2021-2025 for the implementation of the SCO Development Strategy until 2025. “Prime Minister Imran Khan during his speech at the meeting of Head of States of SCO which was held in June 2019 in Bishkek articulated his eight-point agenda. This included a proposal to narrow the research-policy gap through the establishment of leading knowledge center for poverty reduction within the SCO framework”, highlighted Dr. Sania at the SCO meeting. Further, she reiterated, “There is an urgent need to establish a permanent mechanism for regular exchange of experiences and information on the applied innovative measures aimed at poverty alleviation.”
Later, Dr. Sania reflected on Pakistan’s experience in poverty alleviation. She said, “In Pakistan, poverty alleviation is a top priority of our government. There are multiple programmes in Ehsaas for 16 target groups, and each programme is aligned with a certain quantifiable goal and 292 initiatives and policies which support these programmes.”
Alongside Dr. Sania, Saidkahhor Kholkhujaev, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Akmadi Adilovich Sarbasov, First Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Hong Tianyun, Deputy Director of the National Rural Revitalization Administration; Kudaibergen Bazarbaev Bazarbaevich, Minister of Labour, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic; O. Y. Batalina, First Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation; and Ashurboy Solekhzoda, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic Tajikistan also spoke at the event.
The apex event discussed regional approaches to poverty alleviation in the SCO member states. Speakers reviewed a wide range of issues on the state and prospects of development of the SCO member state’s cooperation in poverty alleviation.