Pakistan`s local govts disconnected from citizens: UNDP.

ISLAMABAD -- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says that local governments around the world are at the forefront of the current Covid-19 crisis, but in Pakistan these institutions are to an extent disconnected from its citizens and `saddled with a governance style which is top down, reactive and authoritative`.

This has led to the weakening of the essential statesociety social contract leading to marginalisation, group grievances and conflict and social resilience in the country, UNDP says in its first `Covid-19 Pakistan Socio-economic Impact Assessment and Response Plan`.

Despite efforts to provide an adequate response to the pandemic in Pakistan, results remain poor. Traders and businessmen are dissatisfied by the federal government`s unilateral decisions affecting their businesses.

Similarly, the medical health professionals are highlighting the unavailability of PPE (personal protective equipment) and the lack of an efficient system of testing and tracking.

The poorer segments of the population are worried as they have lost their livelihoods, with many people relying on daily wages. As the pandemic has hit almost every segment of society andin the absence of a consensus on the strategy to adopt, frustration, insecurity and uncertainty are widespread, the report says.

The UNDP report, released on weekend, says that the Covid-19 crisis is threatening social cohesion within countries, as its impact reaches deep intoour society, on the behaviour of individuals, and affects well-being and mental health. Conversely, Pakistan offers a very productive avenue for further integration and assimilation of the relation between social cohesion and community resilience.

`Political engagement and social dialogue, community empowerment and participation, and governance and rule of law these three together determine the state-citizen relationship, which eventually determines the implementation of the government`s response to such a crisis, according to the report.

One among many challenges is the lack of coordination, direction, and availability of accessible information on the pandemic at the local level. In absence of a coordination mechanism and platforms, the relief and emergency response efforts remain ineffective and lead to duplication and the waste of resources, the UNDP report says.

Elected local governments would have been effective not only in implementing federal and provincial decisions but in their localisation, due to the...