Interactive training workshop: improvement of water, sanitation conditions stressed

The poor management of water and sanitation channels and irregular monitoring system may cause devastating floods again next year. This was the crux of an interactive training workshop on "Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)" organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Tuesday.
The participants agreed that state and non-state actors have the responsibility to work jointly in improving the water and sanitation conditions. Manager Training Zil-i-Ehsan said the recent floods are different from those, which wreaked devastation in 2010. At that time the meteorologists and climatologists of Pakistan were expecting dry season for next two years, but due to the atmospheric changes Pakistan had to face recent adverse flood this year.
Ehsan said water and sanitation are critical for human survival in the initial stages of such a disaster. People affected by disasters are generally much more susceptible to illness and even deaths, which to a large extent is related to inadequate sanitation, water supply and inability of the authorities to maintain good hygienic conditions. The most significant of these diseases are diarrhoea and infectious diseases transmitted by the face-oral route.
The main objective of WASH programmes in disasters is to educate flood affected people how to cope with such situations through good hygienic practices like provision of safe drinking water to reduce the environmental health risks. He said the workshop would help manage relief to affected people during emergency response.
He was of the view that to get maximum benefit from a response, it is imperative that disaster-affected people would have the necessary information, knowledge and understanding to prevent water and sanitation-related diseases and to mobilise these resources in design and maintenance of the facilities. He said in the displaced situations, the flood affected women and girls vulnerability to sexual and other forms of gender-based violence increase.