Engaging the legislators for universal access to WASH Rights

Status: Completed
Start Date: Dec 2016
End Date: Dec 2019
Geographic Coverage: Punjab & Sindh
Focus Area: Women Political Participation
SDG Goal: 6 Ensuring universal access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
Implementing Partner: SPO
Funding Partner: WaterAid

Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) with the financial support of Wateraid is implementing this project.

The objectives of this collaboration were to;

Proactively engage legislators/ opinion leaders to facilitate legislation for securing WASH as fundamental rights and enhancing their capability to influence WASH planning and oversight in the provinces.

Advocating a progressive rise in sector financing in addition to legislative work to promote and protect WASH rights.

The project aimed to mobilize and facilitate the legislators/ opinion leaders in order to bring the WASH agenda to the forefront where it will not only just be seen as a pertinent issue but will also be mandated as a basic human right for all through legislative action.

Essentially, the purpose of the project was to progressively engage the legislators/ opinion leaders with the WASH agenda in the course of five years such that a series of advocacy events in within provincial assembly and across the province to promote WASH as a right for all through parliament passing the WASH bill (to be turned into the WASH Act) by the end of the project. The project includes the Punjab Provincial Assembly for the first year, expanding in the Provincial Assemblies of Sindh, KPK and Baluchistan in the consequent years.

Legislators in the Provincial Assembly, opinion leaders in the respective provinces, relevant government departments and members of the mainstream political parties (PML-N, PPP, PTI and JI) etc. will be involved in the course of the project.