Social Welfare Department along with Centre for Public Policy and Governance (CPPG) Forman Christian College Lahore held a consultation dialogue for a draft social welfare policy here on Monday. The draft policy was developed by CPPG at the behest of the Department of Social Welfare and Baitul Maal (SWD). The policy is part of a larger project titled “Social Welfare Department: The Provincial Face of Regulation and Interaction with NGOs” being conducted by CPPG with the support of the USAID Small Grants and Ambassador’s Fund Programme (SGAFP).
This policy was developed with the aim to provide a comprehensive roadmap to the SWD regarding the scope of their work, as well as strategic direction in the years to come. The lack of an overarching social policy is one of the key constraints hampering the improvement of social indicators of Punjab. The absence of a coherent social policy has especially been problematic for the SWD. This consultative session was held to invite opinions and views of all major stakeholders on the draft policy document. The feedback and comments will be incorporated into the final version of the policy.
The event was very well attended, with participants including SWD officers from all tiers; officers of other government departments civil society representatives and members of the academia. Government departments included the Department of Industries, the Home Department, Punjab Commission for the Status of Women and the Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Department. Prominent civil society organisations included South Asia Partnership (SAP PK), Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), Milestone, Women in the Struggle for Empowerment (WISE), among others.
The event was also attended by Mr. Waheed Akhtar Ansari, Director General, Directorate General of Social Welfare and Bait-ul-Maal, Punjab who lauded the efforts of the CPPG project team in the work that they had done during the project, and specifically on the policy. “This policy is a much-needed document for the SWD, and I am very grateful to each one of you for taking out the time to give your feedback on this,” he said.
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