ISLAMABAD - WaterAid and Plan International Pakistan along with other civil society organisations across Pakistan joined hands to launch a yearlong campaign calling for government to keep its promises to improve access to sanitation facilities.
The campaign “Keep Your Promises on Sanitation” aims to establish a broad-based civil society and citizens’ alliance to create a momentum to improve governance of the sanitation sector. The campaign was launched in parallel in four countries of the region (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan). In Pakistan, the campaign was simultaneously launched in Islamabad, Quetta, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar at respective press clubs.
During the event it was shared that in Pakistan, nearly 52 percent of the population (94 million people) has no access to improved sanitation facilities and 23 percent of the population (40 million) defecates in open.
The disparities in urban and rural are quite visible, as out of 94 million people who do not use improved sanitation facilities, 75 million of them live in rural areas. And the 40 million people who defecate in open, the vast majority 37 million of them, live in rural areas. Pakistan has second highest under five child-mortality rate (72 per 1000 live births) in South Asia. The economic impact of neglecting sanitation costs Pakistan Rs. 343.7 billion (US$ 5.7b) annually, which is 3.9 percent of the GDP.
Sanitation in Pakistan is at a crisis point, requiring urgent action, said Siddiq Khan, Country Representative WaterAid in Pakistan. The state should declare emergency for sanitation as despite no shortage of high-level political commitments, the overall progress of sanitation, particularly reaching to poor and vulnerable communities, is unsatisfactory, he added.
The speakers said that the decision-makers must deliver on the commitments made at local, national, regional and global levels to achieve real progress on equitable and inclusive sanitation.
They called on governments to identify and recognise marginalised and excluded areas/people with respect to sanitation coverage; develop a clear investment criteria and plan based on low sanitation coverage and exclusion; and incorporate separate budget line for sanitation and hygiene in the budget at all levels (federal, provincial and districts).
On the occasion, Imran Shami, Country Programme Manager (Implementation) Plan International Pakistan maintained that citizens in Pakistan need to claim their rights and entitlements, engage in the planning and implementation of sanitation programmes, and use the sanitation infrastructure responsibly. Later, audience participated in candle vigil by indicating number of people waiting for sanitation services in Pakistan.