Making riches off of poverty.

Byline: Afshan Subohi

By the looks of it, selling misery is a fairly profitable business in Pakistan. Everyone in public, non-profit and private sectors is cognisant of its potential and is ready to exploit it at the drop of the proverbial hat.

There are several thousand people, if not more, who make a living out of the poverty alleviation agenda. This includes those at the top of hierarchical structures, experts serving as consultants in collaboration with key lenders, and those working in the field down the pecking order.

They gobble up a sizeable share of the total spending, including the aid inflow, meant to serve the poverty-stricken multitude. The lenders are not beyond blame either: they knowingly depend on sub-optimal national data and do little, if anything, to force the government to produce something credible.

'Multiple UN agencies, World Bank, Department for International Development (DFID), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other key lenders that have a history of engagement in Pakistan can't be absolved of the responsibility. They are bureaucratic, high on paperwork and low on performance audit. That they are incorruptible is a myth,' said a retired top bureaucrat who cared to share recently the insight that was earned while working closely with the lenders.

Our poor ranking on HDI exposes the bankruptcy of ideas in the social welfare sector

Images matter. Children feeding on leftovers at dumpsters, beggars in tatters, young pregnant mothers carrying toddlers chasing cars for alms on traffic signals, stunted children staring vacantly at the zoomed-in camera, long lines of people with containers waiting for their turns at the community water tap, half-clad children playing around overflowing gutters, open-air schools with pupils squatting on jute mats, people falling over each other for a free bag of atta (wheat flour), labour sitting on the roadside waiting for work... such images are used in reports dealing with poverty, some strategy to end it, or making out a case for donations. These are the images that catch the eye of the lenders. Simple.

The online projection of poverty tends to be more effective than reports as the wretchedness in action drives the point home successfully. It serves to signify direct connection with the community and arouse sympathy better.

Although reliable statistics are not available on the collective spending on social welfare by the government, non-profit and private sectors, it runs into hundreds...

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