This report is part of an ongoingproject to understand poverty, growth, and human developmentin Pakistan. It argues that if the country does not closeits social gap, its long-term ability to grow economically,alleviate poverty, and sustain its debt will befundamentally compromised. Spanning social, economic, andfiscal difficulties, the country's current predicamentis not rooted in a discrete set of policies amenable torapid rectification, but in structural factors linked veryoften to issues of governance. It is within this context ofa broader failure of policy and implementation that oneshould understand Pakistan's inability to takesufficient advantage of the growth that it has enjoyed inthe past, to attract investment, build enoughinfrastructure, or to promote adequate advances in socialindicators. Over the past decade, stagnating policy and apersistent, even widening, social gap are direct legacies ofthese failures. As this report suggests, issues ofgovernance, for instance, in the form of the lack ofaccountability, are at the heart of many of the dificultiesencountered in mitigating poverty and broadening access tosocial services in Pakistan. Neither debt reform nor themere availability of donor funds is likely to dispel theseproblems. The strategies and tactics outlined in this reporttake this into account, emphasizing the need to consider andimplement concomitant policies in a comprehensive, mututallyreinforcing manner.
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