NUML SDG's Marathon: Sustainable Development Goal-6 (Clean Water and Sanitation for all)

BLOG BY: Wareesha Shakeel& Hunain Mahmood

BS-4 Governance and Public Policy (Morning)

• What does SDG#6 say?

Sustainable development goal 6 is all about ensuring clean water and sanitation worldwide. UNEP has a major role in making policies for sustainable water resources. By 2030 it is their goal to conserve the water resources worldwide so that they can save the world from the upcoming dangers of scarcity and an unhygienic environment that causes different kinds of dangerous diseases. SDG6 stresses not only providing clean water, but on sustaining the resources because it directly impacts the economic growth as well as the health and status of a region worldwide.

• Progress made by Pakistan: 

As we all are aware of the fact that by 2025 Pakistan would face a major water scarcity disaster and we will not be able to control that situation so to protect our water resources and to attain sustainability Pakistan started working on SDGs in 2009 onwards. From 2009 till now to 2022 Pakistan has signed three programs with the United Nations to achieve sustainable development goals in order to protect the economy, food resources, health services and reduce poverty in the country, to attain a sustainable and prosperous future.

To proclaim and achieve the goal of sustainable development by 2030 Pakistan is putting all their efforts at the national and international levels. For this purpose, Pakistan has developed its own national agenda of sustainable development which was passed by the national assembly committee in 2016. It was a major step to contribute as a responsible state. In 2018 a legal policy framework for sustainable development goals was also being established by the government of Pakistan to achieve the UN targets. Though Pakistan is progressing slowly, it’s worthwhile progress in the history of Pakistan which is undeniable. There are units being programmed at the federal and national levels to address the sustainable development goals and the ministry of planning and development is playing its major part in the development. By 2030 Pakistan would likely achieve sustainable development goals in terms of clean water, health, gender equality and sanitation, etc.

• Progress made by NUML:

 In respect to goal number 6, Clean Water and Sanitation, NUML has done one activity and one social action project: 

✓ Cleanliness Drive: Students of NUML performed Cleanliness drive along with an interactive session with the students of Bahria Foundation College. 

✓ Aqua- The pure: Aqua- the Pure was a social action project (SAP) conducted by the students of G&PP. Real-time data was collected by the students by visiting the slum areas of Islamabad. Rawat was set as the location where survey/interviews were carried out to document the access to clean drinking water. A webinar was also arranged titled, ‘Access to Clean Water Supply’ in collaboration with Youth Economic Forum. In addition, a social media awareness campaign was also launched about the importance and need for clean water.

• Campus drive story:

Doing an awareness walk was the first step towards spreading awareness among the students of our university. The main aim was to interact with students of different departments and to be aware about Sustainable Development Goals. We made different pamphlets and charts which contained information about the SDG-6 targets, their aims and their importance. We went to different areas of the university and asked questions related to our SDG.

 In addition, we also made pictures with the students holding our posters. Along with the awareness campaign, we also conducted interviews among the students. We approached 35 students, out of which 18 students gave interviews willingly. We interviewed students from four departments, i.e., Governance and Public Policy (G&PP), Department of Computer Science (CS), Department of Engineering and Department of Business Administration (BBA). The questions asked were: 

✓ What are Sustainable Development Goals?

 ✓ What do you know about goal 6: ‘Clean water and sanitation? 

✓ What role do you play in saving water as a citizen? 

✓ Are you happy with the Government of Pakistan's measures regarding the provision of charities of water and sanitation?

• Results:

As a whole, a higher percentage of people from the G&PP Department knew about SDG and its Goals as well. Whereas, students from other departments had little to no knowledge about SDGs. After interviewing the students, we briefed them about the relevant topic with the hope that they will be able to learn something new.

• Webinar:

 The second step in spreading awareness was conducting a webinar on Wednesday, February 23, 2022. The webinar was a 15-minutes session followed by question answers. A total of 25 participants attended the webinar, among which 20 participants were from the NUML Islamabad campus, two participants were from Riphah University, two were from Comsats University, and one was from CUST University. The main aim of conducting the webinar was to provide the participants with brief knowledge about the SDGs. The topics covered in the webinar session were: 

✓ What are sustainable development goals? 

✓ Goal number 6: clean water and sanitation

✓ Challenges and solutions 

✓ SDG#6 situation in Pakistan 

✓ How SDG 6 relates to everyone

• Recommendations: 

Considering the present situation of Pakistan, we must ensure the implementation of SDG#6 to resolve the Water and Sanitation Services in our country as well as the other 16 SDGs. The sanitation policy primarily focuses on safe disposal of liquid and solid wastes; and promotion of health and hygiene practices in the country including its six detailed clauses which are:

✓ Access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

✓ Achieve access to equitable sanitation and hygiene, and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and those in vulnerable situations

✓ Improve water quality by reducing pollution, and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally. 

✓ Substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors. 

✓ Implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate. 

✓ Protect and restore water-related ecosystems. 

✓ Expand international cooperation and support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities. 

✓ Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management.

• Conclusion: 

Although this project was of short duration our experience was really good. This project was a source of our own learning about SDG’s along with spreading awareness. We all should play our parts as responsible citizens to save this country from water scarcity and other sanitation issues. We believe it's time to bring a change starting from our own selves, from our homes, from our doorstep. It’s high time to educate people, especially youth to play their part in achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Pakistan to preserve our resources and to protect our environment.