Prominent parliamentarians at a consultative workshop held here Thursday pledged to work together to improve the legislative framework governing groundwater extraction in Pakistan and improve cooperation and coordination for achieving Sustainable Development Goals target on water and sanitation by 2030.
The workshop on “Ground Water Extraction Management, WASH Governance and Human Rights to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene” was organised by WaterAid Pakistan and attended by over 25 parliamentarians of National Assembly, Senate of Pakistan and provincial assemblies of Punjab and Sindh.
Speaking on behalf of Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, Chairperson Standing Committee on Climate Change, Senator Seeme Ezdi, said, “Pakistan is one of the top five countries facing water shortage and in order to tackle this, I would like to urge our youth to play their part in creating awareness on ground water management and water conservation”.
Parliamentary Secretary, Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and National Assembly SDG Task Force’s focal person Goal 6, Ms Kanwal Shauzab remarked that “We need to mobilize our role as parliamentarians and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 through legislative recommendations and enhanced coordination.
Pakistan is a water stressed country and the hazardous issues of clean drinking water and ground water extraction management cannot be neglected, therefore, such platforms would pave a way for further legislation and water focused policies”, Ms Shauzab said.
She said Pakistan needs to declare an emergency for achieving the SDG-6 goals by 2030.
Country Director, WaterAid Pakistan, Siddiq Khan, speaking at the inaugural event, said, “We are only eight years away from the deadline for achieving SDGs including SDG-6 which promises clean drinking water, safe sanitation and hygiene services to everyone everywhere by 2030. To meet this deadline, we are providing technical support to the government of Pakistan in strengthening the legal foundation for water and sanitation services”. The workshop also consisted of a briefing to the parliamentarians by a high-level expert on ground water extraction and management.
