Islamabad: Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Broadcasting, Barrister Danyal Chaudhry, has stressed the urgent need to prioritize children in the upcoming federal budget, noting that despite comprising over 40% of Pakistan’s population, public investment in child-focused sectors remains persistently low, says a press release.
Speaking at a pre-budget roundtable organized by UNICEF in collaboration with the SDGs Secretariat and SDPI, Barrister Danyal highlighted critical fiscal trends from FY2025-26, while social protection spending increased by 20.7% driven by BISP, education allocations saw only marginal growth, and health funding declined from Rs52.13 billion to Rs31.97 billion. Primary and preventive healthcare receives merely 10% of tertiary care expenditure, directly impacting maternal and child health outcomes.
“Pakistan spends only 0.9% of GDP on health against the WHO-recommended 5%, and education spending remains below half of UNESCO’s 4-6% benchmark”. These constraints are reflected in outcomes where 77% of ten-year-olds face learning poverty, and one in three children under five suffers from stunting.
The roundtable, titled “Child-Focused Social Sector Investments with Examples from Provinces - Challenges, Opportunities and Gaps” brought together parliamentarians and policy experts for evidence-based dialogue on budget trends and priorities for FY2026-27. Discussions focused on reprioritizing within existing allocations, improving absorptive capacity to utilize unspent development funds, and exploring innovative financing mechanisms.
