ISLAMABAD - WaterAid in Pakistan has welcomed pledges from the Government of Pakistan to provide 20 million people with access to adequate sanitation and 14.4 million with access to an improved water source by 2015.
The pledges were made in Pakistan’s Country Commitment, tabled at the Sanitation and Water All (SWA) high-level meeting in Washington D.C. Muhammad Javed Malik attended the meeting as the representative of the Prime Minister of Pakistan on April 19.
Siddiq Ahmad Khan WaterAid’s Country Representative in Pakistan said: “These are crucial commitments made by the Pakistani Government; they put the country on the course to universal access to water and meeting the sanitation Millennium Development Goal.
 WaterAid along with other stakeholders will actively engage with government to support and monitor commitments made during the High Level Meeting.”
Abdul Hafeez, Manager Policy and Advocacy at WaterAid in Pakistan said: “The upcoming budget at Federal and Provincial level will be a great opportunity for the Government of Pakistan to honour its commitment by putting a dedicated water and sanitation budget line and increase financial allocation for the sector.”
Pakistan was one of over 50 governments represented at the sanitation and water of all sector ministers meeting.
The Pakistan statement of commitments tabled at the high-level meeting includes 10 specific action points, which include: prioritise sanitation and drinking water within a sector wide approach, develop a national sector action plan by December 2013, increase funding from the prsp to water supply and sanitation by 1% by 2015, mobilize external assistance for an additional us$ 200 million annually for water and sanitation, conduct a sector capacity development needs assessment by December 2012 and establish a  national monitoring framework for sanitation and drinking water by 2013.