Advancing Just Transitions in Pakistan Through Health Sector Skills Development and Social Protection (M-GA)

This initiative creates safer and more supportive working environments for health workers. It strengthens policies, institutions, and governance capacity across the health sector. The initiative invests in building practical skills, recognised qualifications, and resilience to technological change and climate impacts. It promotes formal employment alongside better coordination between health and employment reforms. Through policy engagement and capacity building, the initiative leverages financing for long-term investment in the sector. As a result, Pakistan moves towards a more sustainable and inclusive health and care economy. The sector generates a more skilled workforce and decent jobs. Health workforce governance capacity is enhanced, and health workers become more skilled, resilient, and better prepared to meet the country’s evolving health needs. The initiative delivers high-impact, short-term reforms that produce early results. Increased formalisation and decent job creation take place through engagement with the public and private sectors. Enhanced workforce mobility operates through national qualification frameworks and digital credentials. Improved skills development, recognition of prior learning, and digital learning pathways benefit nursing and allied health professionals. Strengthened professional standards and accreditation build on curriculum reform, digitalisation, assessment, and certification, complementing technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank. Cross-cutting priorities support gender-responsive governance, female leadership, and increased social protection and recognition for marginalised cadres such as Lady Health Workers. Through the adoption of a National Employment Policy, Provincial Employment Action Plans, and a gender-responsive National Roadmap for the Global Accelerator, the initiative improves policy coherence. These enablers mobilise for scale-up, creating fiscal space and utilising blended finance and public-private partnerships to align with financial institution pipelines. The geographic focus covers ICT, Punjab, and Sindh. Target beneficiaries are health and care workers, with sectoral focus on the health sector and thematic focus on transitions, skills development, governance, and the Global Accelerator.

Project symbol

PAK/25/50/UND

Admin unit

CO-Islamabad

Start date

29/04/2026

End date

29/10/2027

Total allocation

450000

Total expenditure

Status

Active

571

Development Partners

Multi Partner Trust Fund Office, UNDP

Country/Countries

Pakistan

Outcomes

Outcome 7: Universal social protection
Output 9.1. Improved coherence in multilateral support for the development and financing of integrated policy responses for social justice through decent work