WASH as pillar of climate resilience needs adequate funding in Pakistan: IRC Researchers
ISLAMABAD, Dec 23, (SABAH): Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) is a pillar of climate resilience that needs adequate funding as currently, the WASH sector receives 22% of the total climate funding.
This was the crux of a research-based “Climate Financing for WASH brief – Pakistan Scoping Brief” undertaken by IRC researchers and was launched at a ceremony jointly organized by the IRC and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
The Research was led by IRC Researcher Habib-ur-Rehman. The launch was followed by a Panel discussion on Climate Financing for WASH.
The study calls upon international donors to allocate at least 35% of climate-related budget for WASH raising it from the existing 22% for Pakistan and prioritize allocation of WASH and climate-related funding to the countries which are currently unlikely to achieve the WASH SDGs.
In her welcome remarks, the IRC Country Director Shabnam Baloch opined: “WASH is critical entry point to reducing community vulnerability to climate impacts, closing gender gaps, health and education disparity, economic inclusion and progress. Climate resilient WASH goes beyond climate infrastructure and is critical in climate induced disasters”.
She further noted that while Pakistan needs 7-14 billion USD annually till 2050 for adaptation alone there is a dire need to address impediments such as complexity of process in accessing climate financing by CSOs, resource intensive nature of issue and lack of community engagement during project development.
Speaking as guest of Honour, Member Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Idrees Mahsud said: “we need to work together to further the agenda of WASH” he stressed on focusing on implementation rather than making new policies. He urged donors to engage with stakeholders on estimating the need and improving research to support our financing proposals.
Giving an overview on the climate financing mechanism, SDPI’s Head of Sustainability and Resilience Program Dr. Shafqat Munir Ahmad observed: “Despite constraints in accessing climate financing from multilateral donors, bilateral partnerships and private sector organisations, both the government and non-government organizations in Pakistan have been struggling to get the country’s share in highly competitive climate financing market amid cumbersome processes”.
He further noted that the funding Pakistan has received is inadequate against Pakistan’s climate financing requirements which run in billions of US$ annually. As of 2022, Pakistan has been able to access about US$ 131 million from the GCF through inter-mediatory funding, US$ 426 million from GEF, and US$ 10 million from Climate Adaptation Fund. Only 10% of these funds have been allocated for the WASH sector.”
WASH Expert, Niazullah Khan said that WASH as a sector has so far not been aligned with climate agenda due to absence of a consortium that can enable national subnational coordination and anchor the formalization and legislative review.
Dr. Fahad Saeed, Climate Analyst, said that we need introspection to see flaws in our policies. Compared to the regional members, Pakistan is lagging in securing climate financing. He stressed on building strong climate rationale to present bankable projects to international financing institutions. He further said that ministries should proactively identify experts and connect them with international financing opportunities and climate change must be brought on the political agenda to strengthen research and legislative framework.
Ali Tauqeer Shaikh (Consultant for World Bank) was of the view that we need to revisit our development paradigm and that we cannot have a baseline for resilience in the absence of a local adaptation plan. He said that we must improve understanding on international financing which is very competitive. Failing to build a strong case, lack of accreditation, passive to accessing money and outsourcing thinking are basic challenges.
The Country Director WaterAid Pakistan, Arif Jabbar Khan stressed that we need to increase awareness on financial losses due to poor WASH conditions at household level. He said that funds acquired are not properly spent which demonstrates the low absorption capacity within CSOs, and at government level. He suggested that while water scarcity is being flagged, quality must also be prioritized. He stressed that on ending competition between CSOs and building strong partnerships and collaborative forum to set long-term policy for improving WASH and generating evidence-based knowledge on effectiveness of current policies.