in the country. He suggested the Federal Ministry of Climate Change to involve philanthropists in their campaign to improve situation of sanitation in the country. “It is unfortunate that lack of sanitation facilities is one of the major causes of high child mortality rate in Pakistan despite the fact that cleanliness is declared half faith in Islam,” he said.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahid Ullah Khan said that sanitation and water are the human rights issues and they would be treated the same way during his tenure in the ministry. He said that Pakistan largely met its Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targets in water sector but lacking behind in sanitation goals. He stressed to create synergy among different stakeholders to improve the sanitation situation.
Unicef Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta said that poor sanitation is a matter of grave concern because of its direct link with dignity, health and economic wellbeing of general public. “Pakistan is among top three countries in the world with highest rate of stunting and reported cases of polio. Both these diseases could not be controlled without improving the situation of sanitation in the country,” she said.
Geeta said that improved sanitation leads to empowered girls. “Better sanitation reduces the risk of violence against women and leads to increases in access to school for girls and better health which ultimately leads to women empowerment,” she said.
World Bank Country Director Rachid Benmessaoud talked about the nexus of water and sanitation with poverty, health, education and economic empowerment. “The disease burden leads to high child mortality and huge economic burden on people as well as on the government. Inadequate sanitation costs Rs343.7 billion ($5.7 billion) annually, which is 3.9% of GDP,” he said.
MNA and Convener of the Parliamentary Task Force on MDGs and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Marriyum Auranzeb said that Pakistan is the first ever country in the world to form a Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs, which has 88 members, including MNAs and MPAs. Its purpose is to engage parliamentarians in implementation of international commitments, she said.
The second PACOSAN will prelude to the formulation of roadmap towards 2025 by the provincial governments and federal territories to achieve sanitation targets in collaboration with key development partners working in the country.