In a landmark move towards transforming the social protection regime in the province, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has approved the proposed strategy for implementing the Adaptive Social Protection (APS) Project of the provincial government and authorized the Planning & Development Department to enter into an agreement with the concerned development partner (GIZ) for this purpose. He was chairing an important meeting in this regard held here at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Tuesday. Additional Chief Secretary Home and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Muhammad Abid Majeed, Additional Chief Secretary P&D Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, SMBR Ikramullah Khan, administrative secretaries of the concerned departments, and other relevant officials attended the meeting. The Adaptive Social Protection project, to be implemented with the technical assistance of GIZ, aims to strengthen the social protection system with a special focus on improving linkages among relevant sectors as well as institutionalizing the use of social protection in disaster management. Under this project, an Integrated Social Protection Information System (Data Centre) would be established, thereby ensuring the all-time availability of complete and accurate information about the initiatives, programs and activities carried out in the field of social welfare sectors. Similarly, developing a legal framework, governance and coordination mechanisms, and a monitoring and evaluation framework are also among the important features of the project. Apart from this, research would be conducted on studying poverty dynamics and vulnerability assessments for evidence-based planning and implementation, in addition to developing a Disaster Risk Reduction Policy for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a Multi-Hazard & Vulnerability Risk Assessment (MHVRA) in the high-risk districts of the province. The Chief Minister, on this occasion, emphasized the need to have complete and accurate data regarding deserving individuals/households from across the province, adding that the ultimate purpose behind this exercise was to make social activities more effective and result-oriented. “The provincial government spends a huge amount through multiple welfare initiatives, which benefits should reach the deserving ones in real sense,” he remarked, and said that the Adaptive Social Protection project will prove to be a milestone achievement in this regard. He also directed the quarters concerned to immediately implement his directives regarding holding mass wedding ceremonies for poor girls at divisional headquarters of the province, adding that the government would provide a grant of Rs 2 lac per person for this purpose.