WSSP, UNICEF agree to strengthen partnership

PESHAWAR: The Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP) and UNICEF have agreed to strengthen partnership and collaboration for improved civic services.

They are going to establish a joint committee for planning and expressed the commitment to explore the potential of initiating small-scale projects to ensure better water and sanitation services in the provincial metropolis.

This agreement was made during a meeting between a UNICEF Pakistan delegation, led by UNICEF Chief Water, sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Pakistan, Cindy Kushner and WSSP Chief Executive Officer Yasir Ali Khan.

The delegation included UNICEF WASH Specialist, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Farooq Khan, WASH Officers Rehmanullah, Fida Hussain Shah from Islamabad, and WASH officers Dr. Wassaf Syed and Usama Khalid.

The WSSP management briefed the delegation on potential areas of collaboration, including underground containers, fleet tracking systems, water suction trucks, water consumption pattern survey, rainwater harvesting, solarizing tube wells, technical and legal assistance, project designing, water and energy efficiency, and social mobilization.

Yasir Ali Khan proposed forming a joint committee for better service delivery planning and underlined the need for collaborative efforts to systematically launch projects.

Delegation head Cindy Kushner stressed the importance of setting priorities and stated that UNICEF would assess the possibilities of providing assistance in relevant areas based on WSSP’s suggestions.

Earlier, the delegation was briefed on WSSP’s mandate, operational matters, and projects completed with UNICEF’s support.