IWMI Urges Media to Be a Water Partner at Pakistan Water Week 2026
IWMI's Amjad Jamal tells Pakistan Water Week 2026 that journalists are partners in water awareness, citing field visits and quarterly meetings.
IWMI Urges Media to Be a Partner in Water Awareness at Pakistan Water Week 2026
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) communication specialist Amjad Jamal has urged that the media be treated as a partner, not an adversary, in building public awareness of water and climate challenges. He spoke on 3 November at the second day of the sixth Pakistan Water Week 2026 in Islamabad. He described journalists as essential allies in turning research and scientific evidence into public understanding and better policymaking.
How IWMI works with reporters
Jamal said IWMI has been engaging bureau chiefs, editors and beat reporters on critical water and climate issues. He cited IWMI’s Environmental Journalists Quarterly Meetings, organised under CGIAR’s Policy Innovations Science Program and the FCDO-funded Water Resource Accountability in Pakistan programme. Journalists covering climate, water and agriculture are taken on field visits to meet beneficiaries and see project sites where IWMI has installed scientific instruments. He said such visits help journalists write evidence-based stories that reflect conditions on the ground.
Background: Pakistan Water Week
The sixth Pakistan Water Week runs in Islamabad from 2 to 6 November under the theme “Commitments to Action: Advancing Water Security and Achieving Climate-Resilient Food Systems in Pakistan.” IWMI organises it with the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources and the Ministry of Water Resources. Three plenary sessions cover development partners’ priorities, water governance in the Indus Basin and Australian water innovations. IWMI Director General Mark Smith joins the second-day plenary online. More than 200 participants are attending, according to one report.
Why it matters
Water issues often reach the public through news coverage, so how reporters understand the science shapes how readers do. IWMI’s field-visit model is one way to close that gap, and Pakistan Water Week is aimed at turning commitments into action.
Conclusion
IWMI’s message is that better water policy needs better public understanding, and that journalists are central to it. The conference runs until 6 November, with a study tour on the final day.
