The Government of Pakistan and the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE), in collaboration with IFAD’s Asia and Pacific Division (APR), co-organized a virtual event for the Pakistan Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE), as a final step in the evaluation process.

The virtual event was held on 2 June 2021 from 10.00 to 12.00 hrs CET and entailed the participation of representatives from the Government of Pakistan and of Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan, representatives of public sector institutions and national stakeholders, and IFAD Management and staff (including IOE).

The objectives of this event were to:

• discuss the main issues emerging from the Pakistan CSPE; and
• reflect on the strategic priorities, opportunities and challenges of the IFAD-Government partnership in the future.

Mr Hamid Sarfraz introduced the event and acted as moderator. Ms Samar Ihsan, Senior Joint Secretary, Economic Affairs Division (EAD), delivered a statement on behalf of the Government of Pakistan. Mr Indran A. Naidoo, Director, IOE, then pronounced a statement. Mr Alvaro Lario, Associate Vice-President, Financial Operations Department, IFAD, provided a statement on behalf of IFAD Management.

Mr Muhammad Abdullah Khan Sumbal, Chairman, Planning and Development Board of the Government of Punjab and Mr Syed Abrar Hussain, Additional Chief Secretary, Planning and Development Department of the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, each delivered a statement.

Ms Fumiko Nakai then presented the main findings and recommendations of the CSPE.

After a Q&A session, Mr Nigel Brett, Director, and Mr Hubert Boirard, Country Director for Pakistan, APR, IFAD, reflected on the future directions for the IFAD country programme in Pakistan.

Mr Hafiz Abdul Basit, Additional Chief Secretary, Planning and Development Department of the Government of Balochistan, delivered a closing remarks.

Ms Ihsan for EAD and Mr Naidoo for IOE both expressed a final vote of thanks and closed the workshop.

The workshop was attended by over 45 participants.