Development planning and poverty reduction are closely related. Though every development intervention broadly contributes to poverty reduction, a regular analysis of development projects and programs is imperative to ascertain how the development investment directly affects poor and vulnerable segments of society. The current COVID-19 economic and social crisis has further enhanced the need for directing development projects towards social protection and poverty reduction objectives. The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is committed to social protection as part of its economic recovery plan. Therefore, Social Protection & Gender Mainstreaming Section has been established in P&D Department with a mandate to provide a centralised coordination platform to all social protection and poverty reduction related interventions in the province. The section is working for mainstreaming social protection and gender balance in development planning and has already developed the “Gender Equality Markers” for gender mainstreaming in the development process. The authorities at P&D Department are committed to aligning the development planning with poverty reduction approaches, and this document is a step towards this direction.
