Water, as we all know, is the basis of life on the planet earth. Not only is it indispensable for human health and well-being, it is critical for sustainable development, including environmental integrity and the alleviation of poverty and hunger. Inadequate water supply and sanitation affect poverty in a variety of ways. Surveys have indicated that about 1.7 million deaths occurred worldwide due to use of polluted water, poor sanitation and hygiene in the year 2002 alone. Inadequate sanitation and lack of facilities for safe wastewater disposal cause degradation of groundwater, rivers, and coastal resources on which the poor are heavily dependent. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each year more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to resort to using potentially harmful sources of water to quench their thirst. This perpetuates a silent humanitarian crisis that kills some 3,900 children every day and thwarts progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In Pakistan the issues of water, particularly those relating to drinking water, have assumed critical importance over the last few years. Poor access, of a vast majority of citizens, particularly in small rural communities, to safe drinking water is one of the major reasons for the rise in poverty. The effect of reduced access to safe water results in spending more time for the women and girls to fetch water from still longer distances and to care for the sick in the family. The high cost of treating water borne illnesses adds to the miseries besides loss in income due to reduced number of working days. When it comes to urban areas, while the situation is better in terms of access, it’s the poorer sections of the society that suffer most, with a disproportionately large number of them even having to pay exorbitant rates to commercial water vendors. With the exception of the cosmopolitan city of Karachi and parts of Islamabad, most urban and rural towns, villages, and communities are supplied with water from groundwater sources except in saline groundwater areas in the irrigated areas of the Punjab and Sindh, where irrigation canals serve as the principal source for meeting domestic water. With the domestic demand for water rising exponentially, and not enough water available for ever expanding agriculture needs, it would be a big challenge for a country like Pakistan to manage its water resources ensuring adequate supplies - and the necessary quality, especially for domestic use – and balancing the competing needs of different sectors and regions.

In the backdrop of this scenario, the Water Programme of IUCN Pakistan aims to address some of the key issues related with water. The activities outlined in the Programme lay greater stress on the water sector problems of Balochistan due to its greater vulnerability against droughts, extreme scarcity of water and inefficient water use practices, and related poverty and equity issues in the province. It is working under the overarching goal of the Water And Nature Initiative (WANI), to rectify and reverse existing trends in demographics, consumption patterns and human-nature relationships, in order to ensure that the current and future demands for water resources are realistically achievable without compromising the ecological, biological and hydrological basis and integrity of freshwater and related ecosystems. But even before the launch of its Water Programme, IUCN Pakistan has been engaged in the water issues of the country. Some of the recent examples range from the sea intrusion study in the Indus Delta to a wide-ranging national consultation project on water management issues in the country. And knowing the critical importance of information sharing and access to authentic water related information for effective water management and decision making, it has set up the Pakistan Water Gateway (PWG) accessible at www.waterinfo.net.pk. It addresses water as a resource in its many dimensions, serves to assess and disseminate shared experiences, publicize policies and guidelines and facilitate cooperation on water issues.

In order to create awareness about water issues and induce people’s participation to meet these challenges, IUCN Pakistan has chalked out an elaborate programme to commemorate the day. These include a speech contest among school and college students, a Water Policy Dialogue and a unique thematic mushaira on water conservation in Quetta, where the Water Programme operates from. Separate events have also been planned in Qilla Saifullah and Dera Ismail Khan, two of the districts where IUCN is working, focusing on students, academia, and local government representatives, apart from the general public. The importance of water and its conservation will be highlighted through poems by school children, technical aspects will be explained by specialists with and the religious dimensions will be brought into limelight by religious scholars.

IUCN is a world leader in developing knowledge and understanding for effective conservation action. A unique worldwide partnership, IUCN brings together states, government agencies and NGO members, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a global web of networks to provide a neutral forum for dialogue & action on environment and sustainable development issues. IUCN Pakistan has five programme offices in cities from the north to the south, multiple field offices, a large portfolio of projects and a staff of 250. It is one of the 6 Country Offices of IUCN's Asia Programme, covering 17 countries with a workforce of nearly 500. http://www.iucn.org