WASH facilities to be provided in schools on priority

Islamabad: South Asian countries commit to priorities of provision of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in institutional settings especially in schools, healthcare setups and public places including sensitisation and provision for menstrual hygiene management.

The commitment was made in the Islamabad Declaration passed at the concluding event of four-day 7th South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-VII) on Friday. Over 500 international and national delegations from eight SAARC countries convened for 7th SACOSAN where government officials, experts, civil society and business delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka discussed growing sanitation and wastewater management challenges in the region. Federal Minister of Climate Change Mushahid Ullah Khan was the chief guest on the occasion.

At the conference, head of country delegations presented country papers to highlight their achievements and plans for achieving agenda 2030 on sanitation. There were eight technical sessions planned to communicate latest research and knowledge and each technical session led by one of the member countries. Moreover, various international and national organisation held side events to showcase solutions and challenges in their respective areas of expertise.

The Islamabad Declaration urged the governments to introduce essential sectoral reforms based on comprehensive legislative reviews with a specific focus on regulatory framework and institutional arrangements including enhanced inter-ministerial coordination for equality in sanitation and hygiene services.

The declaration also recommended developing effective financial planning and reporting on sanitation and hygiene related investment to achieve SDG related targets by strengthening the tracking and monitoring process.

The South Asian countries also committed to strengthen knowledge management and support climate change adaptation and explore financing to promote climate resilient sanitation and hygiene technologies in and behaviours in general and in at-risk communities in particular.

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahid Ullah Khan offered South Asian countries to organise green cricket matches to voice their concern for the impact of climate change on developing countries.

He said that good sanitation is crucial for people’s health and financial prosperity and country’s economic growth. “A lot has been achieved during MDGs era by South Asian countries with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives achieving MDG sanitation targets however, still 500 million people defecate in open in South Asia. The rate of open defecation remained higher than those of other poorer countries,” he said terming wide spread open defecation a public health emergency.