UK aid prioritises support for the poorest and most excluded people and communities in Pakistan. Thus, whilst we recognise that there are poor people living in Islamabad, UK aid is focussed in the provinces with the highest number of poor people and on strengthening capacity of those provinces to deliver basic services to their populations.

DFID strive to visit as many programme locations as possible to gather feedback from communities, including minority communities. DFID Pakistan also has projects that work directly with minorities and aims to tackle the drivers underpinning intolerance and discrimination, through promoting greater understanding between communities.

DFID Pakistan is striving to better disaggregate its results through a data disaggregation action plan which focuses on 4 key areas: sex, age, disability and geography. This will improve our understanding of those who benefit from our programmes. We do not currently have plans to collect data on religion as we recognise the risks associated with potentially revealing such sensitive information for religious minorities.

The UK’s work in Pakistan is focused on peace and stability, making democracy work, jobs and growth and providing basic services.

UK aid prioritises support for the poorest and most excluded people and communities in Pakistan, thus DFID Pakistan’s bilateral programmes focus on provinces with the highest numbers of poor people and on strengthening the capacity of those provinces to deliver basic services to their populations. This includes supporting the provision of electricity and engaging with the governments regarding adequate water provision.

While we recognise that there are poor people living in Islamabad, without access to electricity or running water, they cannot be our focus. We expect the Islamabad Capital Development Authority to support them with support received at national level from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.