Poor sanitation in Pakistan costs 3.96pc of GDP

ISLAMABAD: A national urban sanitation workshop was informed on Monday that the poor sanitation in Pakistan costs 3.96 per cent of GDP – about $5.7 billion dollars annually.

In his keynote presentation, UNICEF Sector Specialist, Nasir Javed said the sanitation situation in Pakistan was exacerbated by the recent floods which destroyed water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities with an estimated cost of around $182 million.

Over 5.4 million people (16 per cent) from the 33 million people in flood affected 84 districts moved from use of protected to unprotected drinking water sources, 6.3 million people (19 per cent) lost household sanitation with an estimated 950,000 household latrines.

The workshop brought together Islamic Development Bank member countries with relevant experience in urban sanitation to mutually learn and share it with Pakistan’s urban sanitation stakeholders.

Recent floods destroyed water, sanitation, hygiene facilities

Co-hosted by the Ministry of Climate Change and UNICEF, with the support from the Islamic Development Bank, the workshop was a first step in promoting south-south cooperation to meet urban sanitation challenges.

Water and sanitation service providers from major cities of Pakistan, provincial planning and development, public health engineering, local government department representatives, officials from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and private sector institutions attended the workshop.

The workshop was also informed that Pakistan made significant sanitation progress in the last decade reducing open defecation from 36 per cent in 2010 to 7 per cent in 2020. In urban areas, basic sanitation coverage is 82 per cent, however data on safely managed sanitation was not available.

Despite 92.6 per cent of people having access to improved water sources, only 36 per cent of households have access to safely managed water i.e., free from fecal contamination.

In his opening remarks, UNICEF Deputy Representative, Inoussa Kabore highlighted that urban sanitation is at the centre of UNICEF’s WASH programming in its next country programme.

He reiterated UNICEF’s commitment and support to government as it seeks to accelerate provision of safely managed, equitable and climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services targeting the vulnerable and marginalised, children and women” he said.

Head of IDB Regional Hub in Turkiye, Hammad Hundal told the workshop that the Islamic Development Bank was committed to supporting its member countries to achieve their national SDG targets.

IBD has allocated $8 billion so far for the water, sanitation and hygiene sector.

“We seek to expand our collaborations in Pakistan for boosting recovery, tackling poverty, and building resilience, and driving green economic growth as per IDB strategy.

Director of Ministry of Climate Change, Dr Saima Shafique said that the importance of clean water and sanitation for human development cannot be denied, as it reduces income poverty and child mortality, breaks life-cycle disadvantages and enhances female education.

She hoped that partners like UNICEF and Islamic Bank will bring more technical expertise and financing in urban sanitation sector.