WaterAid applauds step towards protection of sanitation workers in Pakistan

on
22 December 2021
Street of Yousaf Goth in Gudab town Karachi, Sindh province, Pakistan. April 2015.
Image: WaterAid/ Asad Zaidi

The government of Punjab province has become the first in Pakistan to ban a racial insult used against sanitation workers in the country. These workers often deal with difficult conditions but they are vital to keeping societies and people healthy, particularly during pandemics.

WaterAid welcomes the ban and looks forward to other parts of Pakistan following the example of Punjab province and protecting sanitation workers from discrimination.

Arif Jabbar Khan, country director for WaterAid in Pakistan, said:

“We applaud the decision by the authorities in Punjab to ban the use of the derogatory term Chuhra (low caste) against sanitation workers – the first province to do so. This is a milestone for sanitation workers in Pakistan, many of whom have continued to work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic without extra money or proper protection, for fear of losing their jobs.”

“Every day, sanitation workers risked their lives on the frontlines of the pandemic, and many came into direct contact with COVID-19 patients. While health workers received extra pay for working with infected patients, sanitation workers did not – a gross inequality that needs to be tackled urgently.”

In a recent report by WaterAid, Tasleem Mai (50), a sanitation worker in Punjab, said:

“We are an integral part of society, performing a vital role but we are not paid for overtime or leave and we have no medical checkups or testing, with or without the pandemic.”   

WaterAid in Pakistan has been working to improve the conditions for sanitation workers in the country and ensure they are treated with respect and dignity for the vital role they provide. WaterAid Pakistan in collaboration with local authorities is working with the sanitation workers from Muzaffargarh District in South Punjab to provide them occupational health and safety gears as well as necessary training to perform their jobs.  

Ms Mai’s reality from the ground is another urgent reminder that sanitation workers need unconditional support and protection, and the discrimination ban of sanitation workers now coming into effect in Punjab is truly important, according to WaterAid. WaterAid is looking forward to other provinces following suit and banning the discrimination of sanitation workers as a step towards full protection.

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Notes to Editors

WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and nearly 29 million people with decent toilets. 

For more information, visit wateraid.org/uk, follow @WaterAidUK or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or find WaterAid UK on Facebook at facebook.com/wateraid.

  • 771 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home1.
  • 1.7 billion people in the world – more than one in five – do not have a decent toilet of their own2.
  • Around 290,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's more than 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes3.
  • Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity4.
  • Just £15 can provide one person with clean water5.

[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines

[2] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines

[3] Prüss-Ustün et al. (2014) and The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2018)

[4] World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage

[5] www.wateraid.org

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