Daily Times

A visiting Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Mission of eight members from Tokyo led by Dr Shigemochi Hirashima, Senior Advisor to JICA, called on Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation in Islamabad.

The mission included Hara, Director General, South Asia Department, Masanosuke Sakaki, Deputy Director, South Asia Department, Ishidate Ikumi, Country Officer, Dr. Hideo Tominaga, Livestock Expert and Shigeki Furuta, Chief Representative from Tokyo accompanied by members from JICA Pakistan office. The mission is on a visit to Pakistan from January 18th -25th in 2020.

The mission aimed to explore the possibilities of collaboration between Ehsaas programme and JICA. During meeting, the deliberations focused on understanding the multisectoral Ehsaas policies, programmes and initiatives concerning poverty alleviation and rural development to explore areas of mutual cooperation and discuss JICA’s ongoing contributions in Pakistan. Secretary PASSD was also present in the meeting.

The JICA mission highly commended Ehsaas that is largest ever poverty reduction programme of the Government of Pakistan. “It has been an honor to get Ehsaas briefing to identify areas for future cooperation. Our two countries have much to learn from each other, including from the flagship Ehsaas programme, and we hope this is just the beginning of our shared learning,” remarked Dr Hirashima.

Dr Nishtar appreciated the contributions of JICA in education and health sectors across Pakistan. She briefed the mission about Ehsaas that currently embodies 134 policies and programme areas. “Ehsaas is a whole-of-government, multi-sectoral and the biggest pro-poor programme ever launched in the country. The government is committed to use all levels, it has to bring welfare to the marginalized segments. Ehsaas wants to engage with international development partners individually based on their comparative advantage,” she elaborated.