Term it another form of discrimination against the region. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: A little less than a quarter of Pakistan’s population or 23 per cent still defecates in the open, according to the latest Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef) and the World Health Organisation.



The report on safely managed drinking water reveals that Pakistan has missed the sanitation target and is still placed within the bracket of countries with 50-75 per cent coverage. The report is released every two years. The latest report highlights the data gathered during the last two years which has been issued in 2017.



The latest reports portray a bleak picture of Pakistan in terms of sanitation and highlights that due to open defecation the country continues to face major health and nutritional consequences. In Pakistan open defecation is one of the major contributors of stunting among children as the current prevalence rate of stunting is 45 per cent — which is worrisome.



According to the JMP report, in Pakistan just under half or 48 per cent of the population is using improved sanitation facilities, 6.0 per cent of population is using shared sanitation facilities and 23 per cent of the population is using other unimproved sanitation facilities.



While talking to The Express Tribune, World Sanitation Community Council (WSCC) country coordinator Tanya Khan said achieving the set target in sanitation is still a dream and a major challenge for Pakistan.



“It is only because improving sanitation has never remained on the priority list of the past and the present governments, which clearly depicts through minute investment by both the federal and provincial governments in this sector coupled with the misuse of available resources by the parliamentarians allocated for the said purpose,” she said.



Access to safe drinking water



According to the report, Pakistan is among the top 10 populous countries where around 1.7 million people rely on water delivered mostly by tankers. Moreover the study reveals that around 36 per cent of the country’s population is using piped drinking water supply on premises meanwhile 55 per cent of the population is using improved drinking water sources, however 60 per cent of the population is using unimproved drinking water sources other than surface water and 3.0 per cent of the population is using surface water.



Earlier talking to The Express Tribune, officials of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) said Pakistan is currently lagging far behind the globally set Sustainable Development Goals for improving access to safe drinking water.



“The pace at which Pakistan is improving its rate annually in access to clean drinking water will not let the country meet the set target by 2030,” said the official.



Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2017.