Introduction of CBMS

Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) is one of the comprehensive key tools in the development research that provides empirical evidence on key social and economic indicators measured at household and individual level. CBMS is a research methodology that evolved to be the most useful in assessing the status of indicators at lowest administrative units. It’s a census of the all the households at local level. The idea is to collect data at this level that truly represents the poverty and other socio-economic characteristics. CBMS-Network has been working in developing countries and provides the technical assistance in devising country-specific and indicator-sensitive support under Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP).

“The Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Network is part of the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) Network. Launched in 2002, with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the CBMS International Network generally aims to assist its members develop, refine and institutionalize community-based monitoring systems in developing countries, and to promote CBMS knowledge and initiatives internationally. Furthermore, the Network promotes evidence-based policymaking, program design and implementation while empowering local communities to participate in the process. From 2007-2012, in addition to IDRC, Network activities were likewise supported by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).” (PEP Website, 2013).

CBMS in Pakistan

CBMS Network has supported a project in Pakistan entitled “Reaping the demographic dividend in the helm of 18th Amendment in Pakistan”. This is the second such project in Pakistan—first was implemented by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) under the backdrop of 2001 devolution plan. The current project has two phases. First phase is a detailed census of the project sites on selected indicators that focus on poverty and related indicators with a section on employment`. Since this project comes under extensive theme of “Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship”, the second phase covers the self-employed youth, both male and female, that are identified from the households covered during first phase. The project in Pakistan covers two union councils that are different in terms of districts and locality. One rural union council will be covered from Rawalpindi district and one urban union council will be covered from Mandi Bahauddin district to ensure variants across localities.

Youth entrepreneurship in Pakistan’s context

Pakistan, the world’s sixth most populous country, has developed specific demographic characteristics over the time. The young population of the country counts to be the largest cohort of the overall population. This process of demographic transition is attributed to start of lowering of the fertility during the 90s. The dependency ratios in Pakistan are declining and therefore a chance created, by a natural process of a demographic transition that can be reaped to speed up the economic development by employing the extended labor force into economically productive activities. The end product of this whole process is termed as ‘demographic dividend’. According to Bloom, Canning and Sevilla (2002), there are four essential policy environments, needed to create, in order to get benefit from a scenario of demographic dividend. These policy environments are: 1. Public health 2. Family planning 3. Education 4. Economic policies that promote labor-market flexibility, openness to trade, and savings. The work by Bloom et al. put a serious note on public policy formulation both for short and long terms to make the demographic transition resulting into economic development. In Pakistan, there is a strong need to identify policies that promotes youth economic engagement both for short and long run. Developments in public health family planning and education are the core programs that also need to be revitalized to meet the extended future needs of the young population. The CBMS project in Pakistan is one of the efforts to highlight the issues of youth employment and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship works to innovate by introducing new ideas and adorning the old ones, hence contributing the economic sector with the new directions to flourish and sustain.