Publication:
Mind the Gap: Assessing Pakistan’s National Socio-economic Registry (NSER)

Abstract
The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was initiated in 2008 in Pakistan to aid the poor and vulnerable, particularly in response to the global financial crisis. The National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER), established by BISP, is a key component for determining eligibility for Kafaalat through household characteristics and assets data. Despite the high overall coverage, over 2.2 million households from the bottom 40 percent of the population are still not included in the NSER. The report highlights the importance of adaptive safety nets in Pakistan, particularly in recent economic, health, and climatic shocks. These safety nets are designed to be scalable and flexible, providing swift and effective support to the most vulnerable populations during crises. The 2022 floods in Pakistan demonstrated the effectiveness of the NSER as a shock-responsive safety net, with a higher percentage of flood-affected households being registered, more aware of their NSER status, and more likely to have received assistance, especially among the poorer quintiles. This report presents a positive evaluation of NSER completeness and accuracy, and several important policy messages emerge.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Majoka, Zaineb; Wieser, Christina; Qazi, Maria; Guzman Fonseca, David; Pave Sohnesen, Thomas; Khan, Ibrahim. 2024. Mind the Gap: Assessing Pakistan’s National Socio-economic Registry (NSER). © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42566 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    The Evolution of Benazir Income Support Programme’s Delivery Systems
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05) Guven, Melis; Majoka, Zaineb; Jamy, Gul Najam
    This report documents the progress that Pakistan has made so far in improving its systems for delivering social protection to its people. The government has increasingly relied on data and technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the program. BISP UCT (Kafaalat),the country’s largest social assistance program in terms of both budget allocation and number of beneficiaries has been responsible for the most innovative developments in the delivery of benefits.Its delivery systems have evolved significantly overtime expanding in scope from simply delivering the UCT to becoming a system that other programs can leverage to identify beneficiaries and deliver benefits.It has flexibility to be scaled up, both horizontally and vertically, in times of shock. This did not happen overnight: the government has consistently invested time and resources over the past decade and a half to improve how it functions. By documenting that journey, using the Social Protection Delivery Chain Framework developed by the World Bank in the“Sourcebook on the Foundations of Social Protection Delivery Systems,” (Lindert et al. 2020), this report can be a resource for domestic and international stakeholders.
  • Publication
    Small Area Estimation of Child Malnutrition in Ethiopian Woredas
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-02) Sohnesen, Thomas Pave; Ambel, Alemayehu; Fisker, Peter; Andrews, Colin; Khan, Qaiser
    Reducing child undernutrition is a key social policy objective of the Ethiopian government. Despite substantial reduction over the past decade and a half, child undernutrition is still high. With 48 percent of children stunted, underweight, or wasted, undernutrition remains an important child health challenge. The existing literature highlights that the targeting of efforts to reduce undernutrition in Ethiopia is inefficient, in part because of the lack of data and updated information. This paper remedies some of this shortfall by estimating levels of stunting and underweight in each woreda for 2014. The estimates are small area estimations based on the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey and the latest population census. It is shown that small area estimations are powerful predictors of undernutrition, even controlling for household characteristics, such as wealth and education, and hence a valuable targeting metric. The results show large variations in share of children undernourished in each region, more than between regions. The results also show that the locations with larger challenges depend on the chosen undernutrition statistic, as the share, number, and concentration of undernourished children point to vastly different locations. There is limited correlation between the shares of children underweight and stunted across woredas, indicating that different locations face different challenges.
  • Publication
    Gender and Climate Change in Bangladesh
    (Washington, DC, 2012-03) Ahmad, Nilufar
    This study on Bangladesh was undertaken to analyze the gender dimensions of climate change and the role of institutions in reducing gender gaps. The study was carried out in 20 sites covering 600 households, from March 2010 to May 2011, using both qualitative and quantitative instruments. This note is organized into five sections. The next section gives an overview of climate change and the gender and institutional context in Bangladesh. The third section presents the key study findings and is divided into three subsections: site- and household-specific vulnerabilities; analysis of gender dimensions of climate change using the household data and four propositions; and description of institutional challenges and gaps in supporting the resilience of women and men. Section four provides examples of adaptation programs in Bangladesh, and section five provides recommendations for enhancing gender-responsive adaptive capacity in Bangladesh.
  • Publication
    Guiding Social Protection Targeting Through Satellite Data in São Tomé and Príncipe
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-10) Fisker, Peter; Gallego-Ayala, Jordi; Malmgren Hansen, David; Sohnesen, Thomas Pave; Murrugarra, Edmundo
    Social safety net programs focus on a subset of the population, usually the poorest and most vulnerable. However, in most developing countries there is no administrative data on relative wealth of the population to support the selection process of the potential beneficiaries of the social safety net programs. Hence, selection into programs is often multi-methodological approached and starts with geographical targeting for the selection of program implementation areas. To facilitate this stage of the targeting process in São Tomé and Príncipe, this working paper develops High Resolution Satellite Imagery (HRSI) poverty maps, providing both estimates of poverty incidence and program eligibility at a highly detailed resolution (110 m x 110 m). Furthermore, the analysis combines poverty incidence and population density to enable the geographical targeting process. This working paper shows that HRSI poverty maps can be used as key operational tools to facilitate the decision-making process of the geographical targeting and efficiently identify entry points for rapidly expanding social safety net programs. Unlike HRSI poverty maps based on census data, poverty maps based on satellite data and machine learning can be updated frequently at low cost supporting more adaptive social protection programs.
  • Publication
    Household Enterprises in Mozambique : Key to Poverty Reduction but Not on the Development Agenda?
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-08) Sohnesen, Thomas Pave; Fox, Louise
    Household enterprises -- usually one-person-operated tiny informal enterprises -- are a rapidly growing source of employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in lower-income countries. Household enterprises tend to operate with limited interest or support from governments. This is the case in Mozambique, where neither the poverty reduction strategy nor small and medium enterprise development policies include household enterprises. Using multiple household surveys, including a recent panel data set, this paper identifies the characteristics of the sector and its development during the period in which Mozambique experienced rapid economic growth. The analysis finds that household enterprises in Mozambique are associated with higher household consumption, lower rural poverty, as well as upward mobility, particularly for rural and poorly educated households. But if the Mozambican government wants to tap this potential, it will need a different strategy than one designed to support small and medium enterprises, because creation and survival in this sector seems to depend on a set of factors related to the human capital in the household and development in the location, not the soft business environment constraints, such as licensing and permitting and corruption, which are cited by larger business.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Tanzania Country Climate and Development Report
    (Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2024-12-12) World Bank Group
    The Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) for Tanzania identifies the impact of climate change on the country’s economy. The CCDR uses macroeconomic, climate, sectoral, institutional, and financial models to identify the economy’s exposure to climate risks and the opportunities to integrate climate action and development. High poverty levels and dependence on rainfed, low-productivity agriculture leaves Tanzania’s economy vulnerable to climate risks. By 2050, climate change could push an additional 2.6 million people in poverty and force up to 13 million Tanzanians to migrate internally. The CCDR presents how implementation of three multisectoral intervention areas could generate climate-positive, resilient, and inclusive growth in Tanzania by 2050. These are: integrating climate considerations when strengthening human capital and social protection; optimizing land and water use and management to boost agriculture and rural productivity, augment climate resilience, and lower greenhouses gas emissions; and prioritizing resilient and low-carbon transport, energy and digital infrastructure systems in urban areas and different sectors. The CCDR details governance arrangements for effective climate change action, presents investment needs, and describes options for mobilizing financing. Action is needed both to reduce vulnerabilities of Tanzania’s current economy and realize the country’s Vision 2050 goal of a more inclusive and sustainable growth trajectory. Targeted climate action could boost private investment and job creation, enabling Tanzania to meet its development objectives in the face of global risks. Technical background reports prepared for the CCDR are available upon request.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2017
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-01-30) World Bank Group
    Why are carefully designed, sensible policies too often not adopted or implemented? When they are, why do they often fail to generate development outcomes such as security, growth, and equity? And why do some bad policies endure? This book addresses these fundamental questions, which are at the heart of development. Policy making and policy implementation do not occur in a vacuum. Rather, they take place in complex political and social settings, in which individuals and groups with unequal power interact within changing rules as they pursue conflicting interests. The process of these interactions is what this Report calls governance, and the space in which these interactions take place, the policy arena. The capacity of actors to commit and their willingness to cooperate and coordinate to achieve socially desirable goals are what matter for effectiveness. However, who bargains, who is excluded, and what barriers block entry to the policy arena determine the selection and implementation of policies and, consequently, their impact on development outcomes. Exclusion, capture, and clientelism are manifestations of power asymmetries that lead to failures to achieve security, growth, and equity. The distribution of power in society is partly determined by history. Yet, there is room for positive change. This Report reveals that governance can mitigate, even overcome, power asymmetries to bring about more effective policy interventions that achieve sustainable improvements in security, growth, and equity. This happens by shifting the incentives of those with power, reshaping their preferences in favor of good outcomes, and taking into account the interests of previously excluded participants. These changes can come about through bargains among elites and greater citizen engagement, as well as by international actors supporting rules that strengthen coalitions for reform.
  • Publication
    Business Ready 2024
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03) World Bank
    Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.
  • Publication
    Pakistan Country Climate and Development Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank Group
    Integrating climate and development is a pillar of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Climate Change Action Plan 2021-25. To advance its implementation, the WBG has launched the Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR). This new, core diagnostic tool analyzes how a country’s development goals can be achieved in the context of adapting to, and mitigating against, climate change. As such, the Pakistan CCDR provides analysis and policy recommendations on how to harmonize the country’s efforts to achieve further economic growth and lower poverty rates, on the one hand, with the pursuit of a climate-resilient, low-carbon, and equitable development path, on the other. In light of the devastating 2022 heatwaves and floods and the country’s vulnerability profile, the CCDR puts a strong emphasis on the need for building long-term resilience. Further, it explores pathways for Pakistan to achieve deep decarbonization by 2050, and eventually reach net-zero emissions by 2070 without undermining its development ambitions. It also provides assessment on technical, financial and institutional and governance frameworks needed for these climate transitions. Most importantly, it attempts to capture the centrality of people in climate policies by assessing how climate risks affect lives and livelihoods, and ways in which governments can build resilience and address poverty, distributional and job impact of climate change and climate actions. Lastly, it sheds lights on ways for Pakistan to galvanize cooperation between public and private sectors and support from international communities.
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.