ISLAMABAD: The Economic Survey 2024–25 has recognised the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) for its contribution to national poverty alleviation efforts.

Highlighting its community-driven model and multi-sectoral engagement, the survey positions PPAF as a cornerstone of Pakistan’s development architecture.

The Economic Survey highlights PPAF’s Poverty Graduation Model as a central pillar of its success. This integrated and multidimensional approach combines interest-free loans with vocational training, asset transfers, business advisory services, and financial literacy.

Inspired by international best practices and aligned with Pakistan’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the model is designed to graduate vulnerable households from welfare dependence to economic self-sufficiency.

A recent analysis of PPAF and the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) common beneficiaries reveals that out of 334,596 households, 108,043 or 32 percent are now in a position to graduate from the BISP social safety net.

The Survey details that PPAF has formed more than 171,000 Community Institutions across the country, with 63 percent of their members being women. In terms of financial inclusion, PPAF has disbursed over 3.5 million interest-free loans (56% loans to women), amounting to Rs 129.19 billion (including reflows), enabling low-income individuals to initiate or expand small enterprises and improve household incomes.

It also highlights PPAF’s support for 963 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including those led by women and transgender entrepreneurs. Tailored programmes for people with special needs include the distribution of over 39,000 assistive devices and enterprise training for more than 3,000 individuals, promoting inclusion and community participation.

In the education sector, PPAF has supported the schooling of 432,800 children, including 10,000 children with disabilities, such as those who are blind or deaf. Approximately 45% of these students were girls, underscoring the Fund’s commitment to gender equity in education through 2,866 educational facilities.

Healthcare access has also been a major area of impact, with the Fund facilitating 15.4 million health consultations 56 percent of which benefited women and girls through supporting 968 community health centres bridging service gaps in remote areas.

In addition to human development, PPAF has implemented 34,590 community-level infrastructure projects benefiting 16.92 million people (51% women) aimed at improving access to clean water, sanitation, and agricultural resources.

In terms of climate change and green growth, Economic Survey highlights the delivery of more than 14 megawatts of renewable energy through 1,450 green energy projects benefiting more than 586,100 individuals.

The Fund has also conserved 2.23 million cubic meters of water and planted 130,000 trees efforts that align with national climate resilience and natural resource management goals. The Economic Survey 2024–25 commends PPAF’s effective disaster response during the 2022-2023 floods, where it provided emergency relief to over 87,600 households.

The Survey attributes PPAF’s success to its strong collaboration with international partners such as the World Bank, EU, KfW, IFAD, USAID, and UNHCR. It further recognizes PPAF’s transparent, data-driven, and gender-inclusive approach as a scalable model for addressing multidimensional poverty and building long-term community resilience.

With its current operations in 82 districts and support from the Government of Pakistan as well as major international donors, PPAF is currently reaching millions of beneficiaries, with programme funding exceeding Rs 21 billion.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2025