Boys in school in Muzaffargarh, Punjab Province. Image: Vicki Francis/DFID
Country overview
Building a stable, prosperous and democratic Pakistan will not only help the millions of Pakistani people who live in poverty, but will also improve stability and security in Pakistan, the wider region, and beyond.
More than 60 million people in Pakistan (one-third of the population) live in extreme poverty. And Pakistan has had to deal with repeated crises, including floods in 2010 and 2011, and the current economic crisis. However, the one issue that is critical to the country's future is education - half the adult population, and two-thirds of women, can't read or write, and more than a third of primary school-aged children are not in school.
Top priorities
UK aid is helping Pakistan to:
- Transform education - by supporting four million children in school, training 90,000 teachers and providing six million textbook sets
- Support economic stability - by helping 1.5 million people (half of them women) to access microfinance and by providing vocational skills training to 125,000 people
- Build peace, stability and democracy - for example, by helping another two million people (half of them women) to vote at the next general election.
The UK has a long and close partnership with Pakistan and is committed to Pakistan for the long term. Increased aid to Pakistan will be linked to progress on reform, as the government of Pakistan takes steps to build a more dynamic economy, tackle corruption and bring stability.
For more information on the results that UK aid is achieving in Pakistan, see the DFID Pakistan Operational Plan Summary.
For more on the UK's humanitarian support following the floods, see the Pakistan Floods Monitor.
For more on how UK aid has helped people rebuild their lives, see the feature, 'Pakistan floods - one year on'.