Delegation of Gates Foundation visits BISP HQs

ISLAMABAD: Up to 9. 7 million free SIMs have so far been issued to women beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) under the Digital Wallet initiative. This was stated by Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Senator Rubina Khalid in a briefing given to a delegation of the Gates Foundation that visited the BISP headquarters on Thursday. Dr Anita Zaidi, President, Gender Equality Division at the Gates Foundation, led the delegation, said a statement issued by BISP after the meeting. The BISP chairperson briefed the delegation on BISP’s digital transformation, the statement added. In her briefing, Senator Khalid stated that up to 9. 7 million free SIMs (Subscriber Identity Modules) were issued to women beneficiaries under the Digital Wallet initiative, around 2. 1 million beneficiaries were enrolled in Nashonuma initiative, while 4. 2 million beneficiaries graduated so far. The meeting between BISP and Gates Foundation officials discussed areas of mutual collaboration for strengthening social protection interventions for women beneficiaries and their families, the statement said. The meeting also focused on digital and financial literacy, training sessions in different regional languages, counselling of women beneficiaries on maternal and child health, and immunisation through BISP Nashonuma centres, human resource development, as well as strengthening grievance redressal mechanisms, the statement added. The delegation proposed an initial pilot phase in 10 districts across Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for collaborative interventions in these areas. Dr Zaidi underscored the importance of interventions focused on maternal and child health, savings and customised skills development for BISP beneficiaries, according to the statement. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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