Dear media colleagues,
Please find below and attached a joint press release by UNICEF, Plan International and WaterAid issued after the inaugural session of the two-day workshop that began here today to review the 'Early Recovery Programme on Rural Sanitation in Flood-affected Districts of Pakistan'.
Your usual support in disseminating/publishing the release will be highly appreciated.
Press Release
Scaling-up of rural sanitation in flood-affected districts emphasised
Islamabad, 13 September, Pakistan – Immediate measures to scale up sanitation facilities in flood-affected districts were emphasised during the inaugural session of a two-day workshop that began here today, to review the Early Recovery Program on Rural Sanitation in Flood-affected Districts of Pakistan
Spearheaded by the Ministry of Climate Change, Government of Pakistan in collaboration with UNICEF, Plan International, WaterAid and other partners, the workshop is organised to review programme implementation but also objectives and constraint to further scale up the programme to reach out to the most in need in all Provinces in Pakistan.
During the inaugural session, high level officials from the Ministry of Climate Change, Government of Pakistan applauded the efforts of its development partners and ensured the continued technical and institutional support for further replication of this program in all provinces.
Following a phased approach by the end of 2012, nearly 7.6 million people in 34 flood affected districts will be reached within the program. The program focuses on demand creation instruments which include information, education, and communication (IEC) material, Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) triggering, triggering in schools, formulation of Water Sanitation and Hygiene clubs and mass media communications, therewith following the basic principles of a human rights based approach to sanitation.
To date, already about 5 million people now reside in 4500 open defecation free villages with access to improved sanitation facilities while the programme is still on-going.
The number of people who still need assistance in sanitation is concerning, but the progress made in safe water shows very clearly that MDG targets can be met with the will, the effort and sufficient funding available," said Simone Klawitter, Chief WASH UNICEF, a vision which is jointly shared with Plan International and WaterAid: "We must target the most difficult to reach, the poorest and the most disadvantaged people, including children and women. Access to drinking water and sanitation are human rights, and we must ensure that every person has access."
This project was made possible through the generous contribution of several donors, including AusAID, USAID, general contributions to UNICEFs early recovery floods 2010/2011 programme and UNICEF's National Committees.
For further information, please contact
Simone Klawitter, PhD
UNICEF Chief, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Mobile: +92 345 500 36 46
eMail: sklawitter@unicef.org
Background Information
Pakistan Approach to Total Sanitation (PATS)
Sustainable access to sanitation is central to development in Pakistan. More than 48 million people are still lacking access to basic sanitation, out of which 40 million are defecating in the open. Tellingly, as shown in the 2012 Joint Monitoring Report (JMP) the Millennium Development Goal sanitation target, to halve by 2015 the proportion of people living without access to sanitation, remains the most off-track of all the MDG targets in Pakistan.
The impact of a lack of sanitation on health, education and economic growth is profound. In Pakistan, Water and sanitation related diseases are responsible for some 60% of the total number child mortality cases. In fact, every 24 hours, 320 children die in Pakistan from diarrhoea, the result of poor water and sanitation conditions. They die in remote villages and crowded urban slums. They also die in areas too poor to afford the inexpensive medicines which might save their lives. These 320 children who die from diarrhoea in Pakistan are almost 8 % of total 4,100 children who die every day globally. Diarrhoea triggers a cause-and-effect chain with tragic results. It is closely linked to malnutrition, which accounts for more than half of all the under-5 deaths. Poor sanitation also has a serious impact on the right to education, with kids missing school due to water and sanitation related diseases. Girls especially drop out when there are no sex segregated toilets. Women, as the primary caregivers of sick relatives, lose out on work opportunities when they stay home to care for the ill.
The economic cost to inadequate sanitation has been estimated at PKR 343.7 billion annually or four per cent of the GDP (Water and Sanitation Program of the World Bank, 2012).
A holistic vision of sanitation was developed in 2010 by the Government and its partners in the form of The Pakistan Approach to Total Sanitation (PATS). Subsequently, An Early Recovery Program with the aim to upscale rural sanitation in flood affected areas was thereafter developed and is now being implemented in all provinces.
Following a phased approach by the end of 2012, nearly 7.6 million people in 34 flood affected districts will be reached within the program. The program focuses on demand creation instruments which include information, education, and communication (IEC) material, Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) triggering, triggering in schools, formulation of Water Sanitation and Hygiene clubs and mass media communications, therewith following the basic principles of a human rights based approach to sanitation.
The challenge basically stems from the context where most of the investment in the sanitation sector traditionally is driven by subsidy to individual households, which ends up positioning sanitation primarily as a private good. The program shows that PATS can be put into practice and that reaching out to a large number of people even during crisis imposed by the floods in 2011 is doable including those most need, children and women fostering a strong equity focus in service delivery.
With the Pakistan Approach to Total Sanitation (PATS), the Government of Pakistan facilitates access by ensuring that appropriate standards are in place to assist individuals in constructing and maintaining toilets while promoting the right to water and sanitation through hygiene education and promotion.
The Government of Pakistan recently participated in the Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting in Washington DC (April 2012), committing to improve access to sanitation and water for the people of Pakistan through: prioritization of sanitation and drinking water needs, increasing sector budget allocation by 1% by 2015 and support the development of sector plans, comprising provincial level water and sanitation sector plans, to guide development in water and sanitation
(See attached file: Final PATS workshop Press Release_13 Sept. final.doc)
A. Sami Malik
Communication Specialist
UNICEF Pakistan Country Office
90 Margalla Road, F8/2
Islamabad
Telephone: +92 51 2097811
Facsimile: +92 51 2097799
E mail: asmalik@unicef.org
www.unicef.org/pakistan
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Editor,
Tariq Khattak.
0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
Tariq Khattak.
0300-9599007 and 0333-9599007
Tariqgulkhattak@gmail.com
.
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