Pakistan Mobilises One Million Youth as It Reorients Development Around Human Capital

The government says long-term investment in skills, public health and community outreach is the path to turn a large young population into sustained economic growth.

Overview

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal announced a federal plan, called URAAN Pakistan, to train one million young people as “Ambassadors of Social Change” to run local campaigns on education, health, population management, sanitation and the environment.
Officials cited the Seventh Digital Population and Housing Census showing Pakistan’s population has passed 241.5 million, with roughly 67% under 30 and projections that total population could reach about 372–390 million by 2050.
The government also committed to targeted Hepatitis C elimination starting in Islamabad and adjoining areas with similar initiatives planned for Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to tackle a national burden of more than 10 million infected people.
Ministers framed the announcements as part of a strategic shift away from mainly building projects toward long-term human-capital investment that requires 10–15 years of policy continuity, sustained financing, provincial coordination and monitoring to succeed.
Coverage and commentary stress persistent gaps—millions of out-of-school children, low female labour-force participation, high childhood stunting and ongoing polio cases—that make execution and measurable results the key tests of the new approach.