ISLAMABAD: With every passing day, the issue of water scarcity is increasing all over the world so there is an urgent need to sign an international treaty on the use and conservation of water.

This was stated by Bart Devos, the president of the World Youth Parliament for Water, while speaking to Dawn on the sideline of a conference, “Water and sustainable development - role of youth” here on Friday. The conference was organised by the ministry of planning and development in collaboration with 26 national and international organisations.

Mr Devos, who is also a board member of the International Secretariat for Water, said during the last a few decades political and financial investment could not be made to secure water due to which water-related problems increased.

“We have to understand that quality of water is directly related with our health, environment and food. By investing more on water, we can resolve the environmental and health issues,” he said.

Earlier addressing the participants of the conference, Mr Devos said the new generation had to play its role to resolve the issue.

Mohammad Wasif Bashir Babar Wattoo, the president of the Pakistan Young Parliament for Water (PYPW), also had similar views. He told Dawn that though scarcity of water was an issue its quality was even a bigger one.

Speakers at a conference also say youth should play their role in creating awareness about water-related issues

“Sewage is mixing with rivers all over the country. I am a resident of Tandlianwala, Faisalabad, where a number of people have died of hepatitis. Even my father and an aunt died of hepatitis. So I set up the PYPW and have been working for the quality of water.”

He said the government should take measures to ensure that sewage was first treated and then disposed of into rivers.

Addressing the participants of the conference, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said water was the fundamental right of every citizen.

“We have to avoid polluting water for our next generation. About 90 per cent of the youth in the world live in developing countries so they should be involved in creating awareness about the importance of water”

The minister said at the moment 38 million people in Pakistan did not have access to clean drinking water and 58 million lacked sanitation.

“Pakistan has the water storage capacity for 30 days which will be enhanced to 90 days by constructing new reservoirs,” he said.

Olivier Hoynh Jan, the cooperation attaché at the embassy of France, said his country would support all efforts for the preservation of water.

“Climate change is a big issue and we have to find a solution to it by involving the youth, civil society, private sector and other stakeholders,” he said, Prof Dr Manzoor H. Soomro, the president ECO Science Foundation, said cooperation and collaboration was the key to resolve the issue of water. The subject of water scarcity should be included in the curriculum.

Mukta Akter, a youth representative from Bangladesh, said: “In Bangladesh, the youth are doing a good job but in Pakistan I feel the women’s voice is very strong.”

The participants were informed that Pakistan was one of the most water-stressed countries and was rapidly heading towards becoming a water scarce country.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2015

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