Providing better access to public services for refugees and host communities in Pakistan

Project description

Title: Strengthening Education and Health Services for Refugees and Host Communities (EHS) in Pakistan
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Pakistan
Lead executing agency: Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON)​​​​​​​
Overall term: 2020 to 2025

Inauguration of the student enrolment drive in government schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Context

For more than four decades, Pakistan has hosted one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Of the 2.7 million registered Afghan refugees worldwide, approximately 1.3 million are in Pakistan. The majority of refugees reside in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (56 per cent), with 78 per cent residing in urban and semi-urban areas alongside their Pakistani host communities.

The public structures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) can provide only limited access to quality services in the health and education sector for vulnerable Afghan refugees and members of host communities, especially women, children, youth and people with disabilities. The traditional social norms in the region also limit the social and economic participation of women and girls. This applies to the Pakistani host communities, but even more so to the Afghan refugee population.

Household survey to assess the health and education needs of vulnerable communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Objective

Access to public services in the health and education sectors is improving in Pakistan’s refugee-hosting areas.

Approach

The project carries out the following measures to improve access to public services for vulnerable groups:

Education

  • Supporting participatory planning processes for inclusive district education sector plans
  • Improving skills of education officials and parent-teacher councils
  • Awareness raising campaigns to reduce school drop-out rates

Health

  • Supporting participatory planning processes for inclusive district health sector plans
  • Developing skills of health officials and primary healthcare management committees
  • Awareness raising campaigns on mother-child health and hygiene education

Linking Subnational Government Structures

  • Increasing the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees’ (CAR) support to refugees in urban and semi-urban areas
  • Improving cooperation between CAR and subnational government structures
  • Supporting inclusive governance, women’s networks and exchange forums with vulnerable groups

Public Participation

  • Supporting the establishment of digital or hybrid approaches for improved public participation
  • Developing digital skills to enable participation via hybrid and digital approaches
  • Awareness raising campaigns on hybrid or digital participation

Last update: October 2022

Additional information