PIDE, UNICEF urge evidence-based policymaking to strengthen child-focused systems

ISLAMABAD, Dec 17 (APP): The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), in collaboration with UNICEF Pakistan, on Wednesday called for stronger evidence-based policies to improve outcomes for children, stressing that credible research must be translated into sustained policy action to address persistent challenges in education, health, nutrition and social protection.
The call was made at a conference titled “Shaping Policy through Evidence: Strengthening Systems for Children in Pakistan,” which brought together senior policymakers, development practitioners, researchers and civil society representatives to explore ways of embedding evidence into public policy and programme implementation, a news release said.
Delivering the keynote address, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal said the true measure of a nation’s development lies in the quality of its human capital rather than the scale of its physical infrastructure.
He observed that Pakistan’s historic emphasis on physical projects had often come at the cost of adequate investment in education, health and nutrition, resulting in weak human development indicators despite significant infrastructure spending.
Referring to high stunting rates, millions of out-of-school children and the country’s continued struggle with polio, the minister underscored the need for urgent, evidence-driven investment in early childhood development and population management.
He urged policymakers, civil society and the media to bridge the “knowing–doing gap” by translating research into action, and proposed the development of a Child Welfare Index of Pakistan to track child wellbeing and strengthen accountability at national and sub-national levels.
In his welcome remarks, PIDE Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Nadeem Javaid highlighted the severity of Pakistan’s human development crisis, noting that nearly 26 million children are out of school while around 40 percent suffer from stunting, with long-term implications for health, learning and productivity.
He said Pakistan does not suffer from a lack of data or policies, but from a disconnect between evidence and implementation.
Dr Javaid emphasized that evidence uptake was largely an institutional challenge rather than a purely technical one, calling for stronger systems that integrate research into policy design, budgeting and delivery mechanisms, particularly in child-focused sectors.
Setting the global and national context, UNICEF Pakistan Country Representative Pernille Ironside said evidence is the foundation of equitable and inclusive development, especially in a country where children’s outcomes are increasingly shaped by climate change, demographic pressures, urbanization and economic volatility. She shared that between 2018 and 2025, UNICEF Pakistan produced more than 134 evidence products across key child-related sectors.
While these studies have identified effective multi-sectoral approaches, she said they also revealed persistent gaps in financing, coordination and equitable service delivery.
She stressed that evidence must be better institutionalized to influence policy, budgeting and large-scale implementation, reaffirming UNICEF’s commitment to working with PIDE and government institutions to ensure research informs action for measurable improvements in children’s lives.
Chairperson of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Rubina Khalid highlighted the role of data in designing inclusive and gender-responsive social protection policies.
She said BISP’s National Socio-Economic Registry is among the largest data-driven social protection platforms in Asia, covering nearly 90 percent of the country and enabling cash transfers to millions of women-headed households.
She outlined key initiatives, including nutrition-sensitive conditional cash transfers, the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif programme supporting school-going children, and the introduction of digital wallets for women beneficiaries to promote financial inclusion. She emphasized the importance of adaptive, climate-aware and evidence-led social protection systems to safeguard vulnerable children and families.
The conference also featured a high-level panel discussion titled “From Evidence to Action — Embedding Research in Policy and Practice,” with experts from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Population Council, UNDP, IBA Karachi, UN Women, Gavi and the World Bank.
Panelists examined institutional and political barriers to evidence uptake and discussed innovations such as digital systems and artificial intelligence for data-driven policymaking.
The event concluded after thematic breakout sessions on early childhood development, public finance for children, climate-resilient social protection and youth skills development, with participants reaffirming their commitment to strengthening systems for children through sustained, evidence-informed policy action.