Update WASH sector Development Plan 

About Project 
Over the last five years, the government of Balochistan has taken significant steps to develop an enabling environment for sustainable and widespread WASH services. This summary outlines the sector policies and strategies, institutional arrangements, and coordination mechanisms that have been implemented. It also highlights the sector’s monitoring, budgeting, financing, and capacity development efforts. These reforms have contributed to several key outcomes that are accelerating access to WASH services:

• Institutional Arrangements: Stakeholder roles and responsibilities have been clarified, with decentralized authority established at the district and local levels.
• Sector Coordination and Planning: A time-bound roadmap has been developed, supported by human resources under a guiding sectoral plan with clear targets, indicators, and budgeted activities.
• Sector Policy and Strategy: The provincial water and sanitation policy and strategy have been updated and amended to align with the SDGs, setting out service norms for households and institutions backed by a legal framework.
• Leaving No One Behind: Equity assessments have provided evidence to inform decision-making and the targeting of appropriate interventions to ensure no one is left behind.
• Monitoring: Balochistan has established an effective Management Information System for monitoring and reporting. The annual district WASH planning processes, including the Joint Sector Review, further support monitoring and coordination.
• Sector Budgeting and Financing: Sector policies and strategies have directed sector investments. In recent years, the government of Balochistan has increased its investments in WASH, particularly in efforts to end open defecation.
• Sector Capacity Development: The Housing, Urban Development, and Public Health Engineering Department (HUD&PHED), in collaboration with UNICEF, conducted a WASH Capacity Assessment and developed a Strategic Roadmap for WASH Human Resource Development. Various capacity-building interventions are currently underway for provincial and local government staff.

Through UNICEF’s global program for WASH Enabling Environment, UNICEF is supporting the Government of Balochistan in all its WASH services. This includes providing technical support for the development of the WASH Sector Development Plan, ensuring a more effective and sustainable approach to achieving the WASH SDGs in Balochistan.