ISLAMABAD: UNESCO in partnership with PCRWR, UNICEF, WaterAid, IWMI, Muslim Aid, Capital Development Authority (CDA) Islamabad and ICIMOD organized an event on World Water Day 2023 theme i.e., “Accelerating Change to Solve the Water and Sanitation Crisis”. Representative of Government organizations, Academia, Students, NGOs participated in the event.
During his welcome remarks, Dr. Muhammad Ashraf, Chairman, PCRWR highlighted the importance of water in the light of the Quran and Sunnah. He further said that globally, 2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water and 4.5 billion people have no adequate facility for safely managed sanitation services.
In his keynote speech, Dr. Mohsin Hafeez, Country Representative, IWMI highlighted that water security is a big issue and has been further accelerated due to extreme events of climate change. Sustainable and equitable access to water to the deprived community is still a big challenge.
A Panel discussion was organized inviting key experts to shed light with reference to this year’s theme. The panelists included Dr. Saima Hamid, Vice Chancellor, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Prof. Dr. Sher Muhammad, Chairman, Department of Agriculture Sciences, Allama Iqbal Open University, Mr. Sardar Khan Zimri, Deputy Director General, Water Supply, CDA and Mr. Muhammad Tanveer, Managing Director, WASA, Rawalpindi. The panelists emphasized the need of raising awareness among the communities about water scarcity, conservation, and WASH facilities at the grass root level particularly at school level awareness should be raised of young students on the challenges of water security. Moreover, all partners and stakeholders need to come together to achieve SDGs.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Inoussa Kabore, UNICEF Pakistan Deputy Representative, described that water is indispensable for all living beings. Access to safe WASH facilities is a basic right of all human beings. The water demand has increased due to the rapid increase in population. Climate change has further threatened the situation. The recent devastating floods posed a negative impact on the communities.
Dr. Youssef Filali-Meknassi, Country Director/Representative, UNESCO Islamabad, said that the purpose of world water day is to create awareness on water-related issues. This year’s theme is very crucial and globally we are lagging behind in providing safe and clean drinking water to deprived communities.
Strong collaborative and holistic efforts are inevitable. Partnerships and coordination among the stakeholders should be encouraged to counter the issues. During the event, United Nations World Water Development Report 2023 on “Partnerships and cooperation for Water” was also launched in Pakistan.