Punjab Socio-Economic Registry held a strategic meeting with UNDP Pakistan to discuss the role of household level socio-economic data in strengthening evidence based planning, social protection, and inclusive development across the province. The meeting brought together the registry’s leadership with senior UNDP officials to explore how the initiative’s data infrastructure could support broader development goals.
The Punjab Socio-Economic Registry delegation, led by Project Director Qamar Zaman Qaisrani, briefed the UNDP team, led by UNDP Pakistan Resident Representative Samuel Rizk, on the registry’s vision, implementation framework, and future roadmap as a first of its kind provincial socio-economic data bank. The briefing highlighted how the registry can support informed policymaking, improved welfare targeting, programme design, resource allocation, and citizen centred public service delivery across Punjab.
The meeting featured an extensive and interactive discussion, with the UNDP team raising detailed questions and appreciating the Punjab government’s proactive outreach to development partners. UNDP also proposed facilitating coordination between the registry and the SDGs Unit housed at the Planning and Development Board in Punjab, given the shared focus among both bodies on development data, monitoring progress against the Sustainable Development Goals, and evidence based planning more broadly.
The engagement marked a step under the registry’s Strategic Institutional Briefing and Partnership Outreach Programme, which has been used to introduce the initiative’s data infrastructure to various development partners and institutions. The discussion opened opportunities for continued collaboration, institutional learning, and closer alignment between the registry and international development actors working on data driven governance in Pakistan.
Punjab Socio-Economic Registry has increasingly positioned itself as a central data resource for the province, building a household level socio-economic database intended to improve the targeting and design of social protection programmes. The registry’s engagement with UNDP adds to a series of institutional outreach efforts it has pursued in recent months, as Punjab continues working to strengthen its data infrastructure and align provincial planning processes with international development frameworks and sustainable development priorities.
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