Pakistan in ‘critical lack of water security’ category: UN report

Islamabad:

A report by the United Nations Institute for Water, Environment and Health placed Pakistan and 22 other countries in the “critically water insecure” category, Dawn reported.

The United Nations University on Thursday released the 2023 Global Water Security Assessment, which indicates that 33 countries from three different geographical regions have high levels of water security. However, all regions also had countries with low levels of water security.

In a press release announcing the report, it was stated that the latest assessment of global water resources, conducted by United Nations water experts, found that access to safe drinking water and sanitation was “still a pipe dream for more than half of the world’s population, because more than 70%, or 5.5 billion people, do not have access to drinking water, with Africa having the lowest levels of access. lower, with only 15% of the region’s population.

The press release states: “Three out of four people currently live in countries where water is at risk. More people die from a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services than from water-related disasters.

According to an English daily based in Pakistan, experts have found that the majority of the world’s population currently lives in countries where water is insecure, such as the Solomon Islands, Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia, Vanuatu, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Somalia, Liberia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Libya, Madagascar, South Sudan, Micronesia, Niger, Sierra Leone, Yemen, Chad, Comoros and Sri Lanka .

The press release reads: “This is a major cause for concern as water security is fundamental to development.”

With other European countries like Denmark, Luxembourg, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Finland and Iceland, Ireland, France, Lithuania, Greece, Germany, UK United, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, and Portugal, the report ranked Sweden as the country with the highest level high water security.

It was noted that the only countries to qualify for the water supply category in the Americas were Canada and the United States, while the Asia-Pacific water supply countries included New Zealand, Cyprus, Australia, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, and Malaysia, according to Dawn.

The report’s findings revealed that “the abundant availability of natural water has not necessarily ensured water security,” according to the press release.

The press release adds: “Many countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with abundant freshwater resources have high rates of low economic value attributed to WASH despite potentially high economic losses from flooding. or droughts.

The global assessment, which was conducted at the midpoint of the Decade of Action for Water (2018-2028) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, provided a “multidimensional comparison” of the state water security affecting 7.8 billion people in 186 countries, according to the report. additional findings.

The press release read: “The report provides some very alarming statistics, claiming that the world is a long way from achieving ‘safe drinking water and sanitation for all’, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ) number six”.

According to the statement, the UN report looked at water security in 10 areas to give a “more realistic understanding of the state of water security around the world”: drinking water, sanitation, good health, water quality, water availability, water value, water governance, human security, economic security and stability of water resources.

According to the press release, “The results are worrying: 78% of the world’s population (6.1 billion people) currently reside in countries suffering from water scarcity.

According to the report, the lack of clean WASH services in Africa has contributed to poor water security in the region. In 54 African countries, including 33 least developed countries and six small island developing states (SIDS), it was reported that approximately 31% (over 411 million) of the population lacked access to an adequate water supply. basic water.

The press release adds: “Only 15% of people have access to safely managed drinking water. In the case of sanitation services, 82% still live without access to a safely managed sanitation service.

Afterwards, he said more people have died from a lack of safe WASH services globally than people have died from water-related disasters. “And, alarmingly, this situation is not improving: 2019 saw an increase in mortality rates attributed to WASH in 164 countries compared to previous WHO estimates from 2016.”

The press release also mentions that the complete and accurate assessment of water quality at the national level remains an obstacle.

The press release also noted: “The level of domestic wastewater treatment, as assessed by WHO using household sanitation statistics, remains very low (below 30 percent) in Africa and large parts of Asia-Pacific, and poor (below 50%) in most countries. South American countries, although there are exceptions in all regions,” Dawn reported.

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