| In
its 57 years as an independent country, Pakistan has significantly
improved the lives of many of its people and has achieved steady
economic growth. Nevertheless, a third of its population remains
entrenched in poverty. Women are at a particular disadvantage,
with lower literacy and school enrollment rates than men, and
less access to health care. The government has shown a strong
commitment to reducing poverty and is receiving support from
the World Bank through around US$ 1.2 billion in |
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financing for 18 active projects and, over the past five years,
an additional US$ 1.5 billion in adjustment lending to strengthen
the government's broader reform programs. Following are results
from some of the programs the World Bank is helping to support. |
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| To
learn more about the Bank's work in Pakistan, see the Country
Brief |
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| POVERTY
REDUCTION |
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| The
World Bank is the main financer of Pakistan’s Poverty
Alleviation Fund, which provides assistance to poor communities
throughout the country. The Fund has been working with nearly
40 local organizations and has extended micro-credit loans to
more than 275 thousand |
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| borrowers,
of which 45 percent are women. The repayment rate for these
loans is 100 percent. The Fund has also financed over 3,400
local infrastructure projects from building wells to the paving
of small roads. In areas where the Fund has been active, there
has been a significant increase in family incomes and consumption.
Personal and business assets have improved, as has the social
status of the borrowers, especially women. |
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| AGRICULTURE |
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| In
the rugged terrain of southwestern Pakistan, water is a scarce
commodity. The World Bank-financed Balochistan Community Irrigation
and Agriculture Project has created a model which harnesses
the energy and creativity of farmers to develop sustainable
irrigation systems. |
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| Thirty-seven
farmer organizations were formed in the project area and were
trained to take over the control and management of irrigation
schemes. The government’s role thus shifted from that
of provider of facilities, to one of technical advisor and enabler.
The result has been more efficient resource use and increased
employment and income at the local level. Another component
of the project supported the completion of 11 drinking-water
systems resulting in better health and better use of time spent
by women who used to spend many hours fetching water from distant
wells. By the time the project closed in June, 2002, it had
benefited over 9200 families. |
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| EDUCATION |
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| On
average, boys in Pakistan complete about five years of schooling,
while girls complete only two and a half. The government has
been working to address this serious problem, and recently a
World Bank-financed project |
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helped make a positive difference in Pakistan’s Balochistan
province. In the project area, between 1993 and 1999, girls’
enrollment in classes one to five increased from 15 to 29 percent,
whereas for boys the percentage went up from 49 to 72 percent.
Similarly, the drop-out rate for girls went down from 17 to
11 percent and for boys from 14 to 10 percent during the project
years. Besides expanding access, the Balochistan Primary Education
Project helped increased efficiency and quality of education. |
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| INFRASTRUCTURE |
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| Contaminated
drinking water and unsanitary living conditions are among the
most serious problems facing poor people in Pakistan’s
North-west Frontier Province. A World Bank-financed community
infrastructure project has enabled thousands of people to live
in a |
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