The Centre for Public Policy and Governance (CPPG), hosted a Policy Dialogue in collaboration with the Social Welfare and Bait-ul-Maal Department of Punjab (SWD), Pakistan and UNICEF on the 18^th January, 2024 at the FC College, Lahore. The SWD presented a draft of Social Welfare Policy that it is formulating for the province of Punjab. This policy aims to address the multifaceted challenges posed by rapid population growth, poverty, and social inequality in the province. This policy dialogue and consultation was conducted to seek feedback and critical appraisal from the CPPG and multiple experts. The aim was to garner diverse perspectives and feedback from various stakeholders through deliberation and group work. The event brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including policymakers, academia, NGOs, civil society activists and students, to engage in a constructive discussion about the drafted Social Welfare Policy.

While welcoming the SWD and the participants, Dr. Saeed Shafqat, Distinguished Professor and the Founding Director CPPG, informed about the Centre’s earlier contributions and collaboration with the department. He stated that the CPPG had conducted a base line survey of the Social Welfare department as the Provincial face for the interactions with the NGOs, held capacity building trainings for the Social Welfare Offices and helped in redesigning the training institutions of the SWD. In his opening remarks the Director General Social Welfare Punjab Muddassir Riaz Malik explained the importance of the dialogue and identified the vision and broad goals of the policy. Secretary SWD Zahoor Hussain, Ameen Bait-ul-Maal Punjab Jubair Ghani, senior government officials, academicians and a large number of students from across the universities of Lahore, including CPPG/FCCU attended the session. Safdar Abbas, Deputy Director NGOs and Focal Person, Social Policy Program UNICEF, presented the key elements and salient features of the draft Policy. After his overarching presentation the participants were divided into nine groups to critically analyze the themes of the Draft Policy and present recommendations to improve it. The group work provided participants an opportunity to network and led to stimulating discussion and feedback presentations.

The active involvement of students, faculty, NGO representatives, government functionaries in the policy dialogue not only provided a platform for learning but also contributed to free flow of exchange of views on the draft policy. By facilitating and collaborating in such consultations and dialogues, the CPPG continues to serve as a platform to assist in disseminating the Social Welfare Policy and the outcomes of such policy dialogues to a broader audience, including policymakers, researchers, members of the civil society and the public.