Poverty reduction in rural Sindh, Pakistan

If you had the opportunity of developing a conceptual framework for an EUR50 million development programme designed to help create jobs, boost incomes, reduce poverty and improve livelihood conditions in the vast and rural region of Sindh Province in Pakistan, how would you do it? 

In this DPU Dialogues in Development we offer an overview of how the United Nations Industrial Organisation (UNIDO) is responding to this question with the support of UrbanEmerge Consultants. DPU alumnus Nima Bahramalian, who leads the UNIDO project, will be in conversation with Dr. Naji Makarem (Associate Professor and joint programme leader of DPU's MSc Urban Economic Development) and Babar Mumtaz (former DPU Director). The dialogue will be chaired by DPU's Prof. Julio D. Dávila.

Poverty Alleviation and Inclusive Development across Rural Sindh (PAIDAR) is a five-year programme funded by the EU to support the Government of Sindh in implementation of its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). The long-term objective of PAIDAR is to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and improvement of livelihoods of poor women, men and young people across Sindh province.

We look forward to your feedback on our conceptual framework and if you have any ideas or experiences addressing the world’s most critical social challenges in poverty-stricken rural contexts we would love to learn from you and connect on the day. We will be offering nibbles and refreshments following the event.

Speakers

Naji Makarem is the co-director of the Masters in Urban Economic Development (UED) and Associate Professor in the Political Economy of Development at the DPU. He is also the co-founder of UrbanEmerge, an inclusive and sustainable development consultancy leading the development of the conceptual framework and theory of change for PAIDAR Programme. 

Discussants

Nima Bahramalian is an Industrial Development Expert at UNIDO, where he manages technical assistance projects to support inclusive and sustainable development of productive sectors in member states. Nima holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering, an MA in International Business and an MSc in Urban Economic Development. He is also a DPU alumni.

Babar Mumtaz is an urban planner/development economist, specialising in urban management and housing finance, with over 30 years’ experience across the world. He is the Director of URBANNOVATION, an organisation dedicated to the advancement and improvement of urban areas through action research and practice. Babar was the Director of the DPU between 2003 and 2005.

Moderator

Julio D. Dávila is UCL Professor of Urban Policy and International Development, and a former Director of The Bartlett Development Planning Unit at UCL. He is a civil engineer, development planner and urban economist with international experience in research and consultancy projects in 15 countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Julio is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK).