Islamabad: (Parliament Times) “Moving towards completion of 70 years of its existence as an independent state, with water and sanitation sector problems at the core of its socio-economic underdevelopment, Pakistan is in desperate need of a water-focused leadership at all levels. Specially, the political leadership of the country needs to take up water and sanitation (W&S) sector as their top priority.â€
The message was released by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) World Water Day, that falls on March 22. Noting that the country’s W&S sector was in dire need of a nation-wide overhaul, necessitating investment from public and private stakeholders on a massive scale, the Institute stressed that “the nation, together, has to rise up to this challenge of momentous proportions.â€
Irfan Shahzad, lead coordinator of the Institute, stressed that conservation and development of water resources becomes a national emergency. “Every drop matters and every citizen has a responsibilityâ€, added Irfan who was listed as ‘Water Champion’ by the Asian Development Bank, in 2006, for his written contributions in W&S field.
He maintained that the concept of ‘water leadership’ needed to be inculcated amongst all the segments and cadres of society, with politicians, teachers, opinion-makers and media at the forefront in drive towards a water-efficient and water-sensitive society. “The campaign towards 2018 elections must see water and sanitation as the key slogansâ€, IPS voiced.
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