Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal has highlighted Pakistan’s deliberate choice to prioritise long-term investment in early childhood development, even as the nation grapples with the devastating impacts of climate change, refugee inflows, and severe fiscal constraints.
Speaking at a global forum in Madrid, the minister underscored the bitter irony of Pakistan, a minimal contributor to global emissions, bearing the brunt of climate-induced disasters that have wiped out years of development progress, according to a satement by PID today.
Professor Ahsan Iqbal, the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, represented Pakistan at the first-ever Global Caregiver Forum, an event co-hosted by UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Spanish Government. The forum was convened to create a global roadmap for scaling up evidence-based programmes to support caregivers and improve child well-being.
During a panel discussion, where he noted he was the sole male participant, the minister identified a primary obstacle for governments worldwide: the conflict between short political terms and the long-term timeline required for social investments to mature. “The fundamental problem that we face in our governments is that governments run through five-year cycles, and these are the investments that do not give results in five years,” he explained, noting the political tendency to favour projects with quicker, more visible outcomes.
Minister Iqbal articulated that neglecting early childhood care carries a severe economic penalty. He warned that inadequate nutrition and support in the formative years can permanently damage a child”s physical growth, cognitive potential, and creativity. “If a child is not fed well, if a child is not taken care of well in early years, the child”s development suffers, cannot be productive, cannot be creative,” he stated, arguing that a nation”s future competitiveness depends on the quality of its human capital.
The scale of the challenge in Pakistan is immense, with evidence suggesting that 54 per cent of the country”s nearly 41 million children under five-approximately 33 million-are at risk of not achieving their full potential due to poverty and poor caregiving. Furthermore, a high prevalence of violent discipline, experienced by 80 to 89 per cent of children at home, underscores the urgent requirement for robust parenting support initiatives.
Confronting these issues alongside floods, internal displacement, and food insecurity, the minister said Pakistan has made a conscious decision to not delay action. “We made a deliberate choice that we would not allow climate shocks to permanently damage a generation of our children,” he asserted, referencing the catastrophic 2022 floods that submerged one-third of the country and erased eight years of development gains.
In response, Pakistan launched its Early Childhood Development Policy Framework in 2025, a strategy integrated into the national growth policy. “This framework commits the state to ensure that every child up to age eight has access to health, nutrition, and early learning, responsive caregiving and protection through integrated systems, not fragmented projects,” the minister said, acknowledging support from UNICEF.
To ensure effective implementation, federal and provincial steering committees have been established to coordinate efforts across health, education, nutrition, and social protection sectors. This structure reflects the understanding that public services must operate in an integrated manner, particularly in climate-affected regions.
Equity remains a cornerstone of the nation”s strategy, with resources directed towards the most disadvantaged children in climate-exposed and economically vulnerable districts. These integrated programmes combine parenting support with nutrition, vaccination, early learning, and social protection schemes. “Under constraint, we chose to protect the youngest first,” Minister Iqbal emphasised.
Among the pioneering initiatives is Project Play, which incorporates responsive caregiving and psychosocial stimulation into the treatment of child malnutrition. This approach, designed to reduce toxic stress and aid brain recovery, is now a mandatory component of Pakistan”s malnutrition treatment services and has influenced global guidance.
To foster a “whole-of-society” approach, Pakistan is also mobilising its youth through the establishment of Young Peace and Development Corps on university campuses. “We are training thousands of these young volunteers into community social mobilisers,” the minister said. These volunteers educate families in their communities on optimal childcare, stunting prevention, and the importance of vaccinations.
Concluding his address, Minister Iqbal called for greater collaboration, stressing that the magnitude of the challenge requires partnerships between government, civil society, academia, and the media to ensure early childhood development remains a sustained national priority.