Implementing Sustainable Development Goals in the Marginalized Communities of Pakistan

Since April 2017 until now, 815 people (500 women, 100 men, 200 community children & 15 school children) residing in the Slum of Mughalabad Rawalpindi have been made aware on hazards of drug addiction and use of unclean water and sanitation (SDGs 3 and 6) through community meetings, role plays and short trainings. 

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a blessing for the poor marginalized people. These goals will be benefiting at large if local people start taking its ownership. They start understanding what SDGs are and how they can transform their lives from marginalization to a standard way of living. The approach of reaching the marginalized and poor people and bringing them up to live a normal life has had been the mission of Presentation Sisters since 300 years ago. This mission was started by Nano Nagle in 1718 in Ireland and today the Presentation Sisters are working in all continents. The Congregation is also working in Pakistan.

In the beginning of 2017, I got a chance to work on SDGs when Presentations Sisters invited me to attend an orientation meeting on SDGs. I was given an opportunity to work as a Grassroot Community Leader (GCL) with them. The aim of the project was to implement SDGs in the marginalized communities of Pakistan and help them to live a better life. So, the work started with formation of a team including a National Coordinator, Link Sisters, Grass Root Community Leaders, and Sub-Leaders. The selected team members have experience in the area of health, project management, community work and teaching. A total of 9 districts were selected in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. In those 9 districts (Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Murree, Sargodha, Risalpur, Peshawar, Khushab, Tando Allahyar, Khipro) 18 poor communities (2 from each district) were selected to work on, where the Presentation Sisters used to visit in routine. They felt those communities were the most vulnerable for advocacy and development initiatives.

Then in February and March 2017, the 9 GCLs conducted a need assessment in 18 poor communities and came up with issues such as unemployment, critical health, poverty and drug addiction. The analysis of all the 18 communities assessments concluded drug addiction and poor health, the most pressing issues affecting these people. And their poor health was due to use of unclean water and sanitation. So, the SDG 3 “Good Health and Well-Being” and SDG 6 “Clean Water and Sanitation” were selected. Since then, the GCLs started creating awareness on these two issues in these communities.

My focused area in Rawalpindi has been Mughalabad. I work for people living in a slum.  As mentioned above the people are poor, most of them clean houses, hospitals and offices. Some of them are car washers, tailors, beauticians and painters. Drug addiction is on rise in this area and people are also very unhealthy due to using unclean water and sanitation. I selected two women from the community as Sub-Leaders. We three as a team started giving awareness to the community members on 17 SDGs, dangers of drug addiction and adverse effects of using unclean water and sanitation.  In the beginning, people did not give us attention, but after two months the women started to understand what we were trying to tell them. They started sharing their stories of domestic violence by their husbands and in-laws. They told us that their husbands are addicted to drugs and do not financially support them. The men expect women to take care of household work as well as earn money and give them money to buy drugs.

We (GCL &Sub-Leaders) also visited some houses suffering from digestive diseases. When the families were asked which water do they drink; they said we bore ground water for use because of not having water pipelines system in our area. They were made aware on diseases caused by using contaminated water. The families were guided to consume boiled and filtered water for drinking to avoid diseases.

We also visited a home where all the family members were sick because of a garbage dump at the back of their house.  Everyday dirty water was seeping into their house producing poisonous insects such as scorpions and snakes.  We listened to them and wrote an application to the local government official working for that area. We demanded him to re-build the wall from where the dirty water was seeping in and remove garbage from the area on regular basis. Fortunately, he worked for the family and fulfilled all our requests. Now, the family is living in a better condition than before.  The project also held a meeting with a group of government officials working in the area of health, social work, water and sanitation in December 2018. During the meeting the findings of the need assessment were shared and a few recommendations were given for the development of the area in relation to supply of clean water and sanitation and control of drug addiction.  

After working in the slum of Mughalabad for a year, we feel that we have contributed to the three pillars (Economic, Environmental and Social) of sustainable development. We have been successful in building up of a wall around a Primary School in the area where people used to throw garbage and children were infected with foul air. We helped the poor family in getting the wall of their house paved. We created awareness among 815 people (500 women, 100 men, 200 community children & 15 school children) on focused issues effecting these communities relating to SDG 3 and 6 through community meeting, role plays and short trainings. People have started planting plants on their roofs due to congested and small houses. Many women have started working as teachers and beauticians. Many told us that they are convincing their brothers and husbands to leave drug addiction and get admitted in the rehabilitation centers. At the end I would like to say after the implementation of this project in this area has changed the mindsets of people. It has given voice to voiceless to demand for their rights. Particularly the women are more empowered ; they know how to get their problems solved by the government.