Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Provide $200 Million for ‘Ehsas Program’

Pakistan and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Ehsaas initiative to alleviate poverty in Pakistan.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will provide Pakistan $200 million for the implementation of ‘Ehsas Program’ next year. A Memorandum of understanding was signed by both parties in a meeting held in New York today.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Bill Gates co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Chris Elias president of global development Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, participated in a bilateral meeting on the future of Ehsaas, a collaboration to put funding, technical assistance, and the help of global experts toward improving health, nutrition and financial inclusion in Pakistan.

According to the agreement, the amount will be spent upon 134 poverty alleviation projects.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that ‘Ehsas Program’ is the biggest anti-poverty project ever launched in the country and it has been planned with great attention to detail.

I’m pleased that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will assist with a range of activities including accelerating stunting reduction programs, supporting financial inclusion initiatives and investing in public health systems to improve health and reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality.

During the meeting, PM Khan said that he is committed to end polio once and for all, as well as make progress on the micro-payment gateway and financial inclusion in the country. The ‘One Woman One Bank Account’ program, which comes under Ehsaas, was also discussed in relation to how it can accelerate both financial inclusion and women empowerment.