Pakistan's Coronavirus Crisis: Provincial Perspectives
Pakistan’s provincial governments have had authority over the health, education, and policing sectors ever since a constitutional amendment in 2010. But the coronavirus crisis magnified the differences in each provincial government’s ability to deliver those services and mobilize emergency responses. Meanwhile, as coronavirus cases and resulting deaths rise, the situation has also strained relationships between the provinces and Pakistan’s central government—which is working to coordinate its own response at the national level. COVID-19 has left provincial governments battling both the public health crisis and its economic impacts, testing their capacity to handle the outbreak.
On May 14, USIP convened observers from all four of Pakistan's provinces to discuss each province’s on-the-ground situation, the various provincial government responses, and what we can expect to see in the coming months.
Continue the conversation on Twitter with #COVIDPakistan.
Speakers
Nausheen H Anwar
Professor, Karachi Urban Lab
Umair Javed
Assistant Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences
Rafiullah Kakar
Director, Strategic Planning and Reforms Cell, Government of Balochistan
Fasi Zaka
Independent Public Policy Consultant
Adnan Rafiq, moderator
Pakistan Country Representative, USIP
