The government announced that the National Poverty Graduation Programme (NPGP) has helped 370,567 vulnerable households move out of poverty, highlighting the potential of the Poverty Graduation approach to deliver lasting change in Pakistan’s poorest districts. Minister Syed Imran Ahmad Shah said the model demonstrates how coordinated public support can convert short-term assistance into sustainable livelihoods and confirmed plans to scale the approach through a new Islamic Development Bank supported programme for extremely poor and flood-affected households.
Implemented from 2017 to 2025 with $132.6 million in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), NPGP combined productive assets, interest-free loans and skills training across 21 districts. The initiative targeted Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) households, providing productive assets and training to 165,807 families while disbursing 304,324 interest-free loans to 204,760 households to help them start or expand income-generating activities.
Independent assessments report strong results from the Poverty Graduation interventions: 56% of beneficiaries have graduated from BISP eligibility criteria, 80% of supported households have been lifted out of extreme poverty, 179,159 jobs were created, and women’s empowerment indicators improved by 48%. Officials say these outcomes validate the integrated design that links assets, finance and market access with targeted social protection.
Navid Ahmed Shaikh, Secretary of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, emphasised the community-driven focus on women and the importance of connecting skills training with finance and markets to secure sustainable income gains. IFAD Country Director Fernanda Thomaz Da Rocha reaffirmed IFAD’s commitment to continue partnering as Pakistan adapts and expands the Poverty Graduation model.
The forthcoming programme titled ‘Poverty Graduation for Extremely Poor and Flood-Affected Households’, supported by the Islamic Development Bank, will build on lessons from NPGP to extend Poverty Graduation at scale and reach communities facing chronic deprivation and climate-related shocks.
