15/12/2014
The population of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has increased to 4,567,982 with almost 88:12 rural/urban population divide, where a huge proportion consists of rural populace. The overall population growth rate of AJK at roughly 2.41% is the highest in South Asia with population density of 312 per square kilometer . Overall 57% of population has access to safe drinking water resources and 62% households have latrine facilities (mainly urban areas); the open defecation (OD) rates of 45% in rural AJK is quite high given the majority of population are residing in rural areas.
National health statistics reveal the challenge the country is faced with. In AJK, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is approximately 62 per 1,000 and mortality rate for children under 5 is 95 per 1000 children’s deaths (national rate). USAID reports that 60% of child mortality cases are due to poor water and sanitation. Whereas, Diarrhea alone causes 16% of these deaths ; roughly one-third of under five children face malnutrition . This calls for improved sanitation services if nation is to achieve improved health status.
Findings from the recent Economics of Sanitation Initiative (ESI) study launched in 2012 by Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) indicate that the overall economic cost of poor sanitation may be estimated as 344 billion PKR ($5.7 billion) per year, a sum equivalent to 3.9 % of the nation’s GDP. This accounts for approximately 2,160 PKR per person per year. As signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Government of Pakistan has committed to decrease the population without access to adequate sanitation by half by 2015.
Post 18th Amendment to the Constitution, sanitation is now completely provincial/state matter. At present AJK is lagging behind in 13% of drinking water and 8% for sanitation access coverage. Since the above mentioned implications due to inadequate sanitation demands for an immediate attention otherwise will add substantive burden to the exchequer if not addressed appropriately. There is an urgent need to address these issues at the earliest so that the vulnerable and poor are provided with the better living conditions.
AJK has had a revisited development vision in sanitation after SACOSAN-II and prepared its first Sanitation policy in 2008 that emerged as a discrete priority item in the development frameworks. The AJK Sanitation Policy support community mobilization, gender mainstreaming and a shift from infrastructure-led paradigm. A few initiatives in recent past have been taken up to cater for water, sanitation and hygiene issues. As such UNICEF, through its implementing partner PLAN Pakistan carried out ‘Scaling up of Rural Sanitation Program in Flood Affected Areas’ in two Union Councils of AJK during Early Recovery Phase of flood emergency response. Though these programs have shown some encouraging results, however, in particular these efforts were primarily focused on a limited scale and were technology focused and hardware driven, unable to affect changes in people behaviors at the individual and communal levels at large. Among others, key challenges to achieving adequate sanitation in AJK is the low priority given to sanitation in the public sector, lack of awareness, non establishment of proper and institutionalized linkages between hygiene & health, community education and participation especially towards achieving improved sanitation. Realizing the importance the GoAJK has given some priority to the water and sanitation sector in the forthcoming 11th five year development plan and vision 2025 which are under preparation.
Being the key water & sanitation sector agency responsible for sector policy planning, the department of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) is cognizant of the situation and has decided to embark upon a Rural Sanitation Scale-up Program to achieve the sector target. With the assistance of WSP it has formulated this program implementation strategy to safeguard and protect its citizens from adverse effects of inadequate sanitation by:
1. Eradicating open defecation from rural AJK by the end of 2016;
2. Promoting safe and hygienic sanitary practices specifically for poor and vulnerable groups;
3. Assisting and facilitating communities in climbing up the sanitation ladder i.e. communities that have achieved ODF status to adopt improved sanitation practices; and
4. Launching awareness raising campaign to change the behavior of communities for achieving improved sanitation practices.
