Only around half of households had safely managed drinking water; 31% lacked safe sanitation in referenced baseline.
Source
World Bank — https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/09/22/pakistan-bold-sustained-people-centered-reforms-needed-to-reduce-poverty-build-resilience-and-protect-vulnerable-populat. Verified in source set / retroactive normalization pending.
What it proves
WASH is urban-governance, health, human-capital and inequality policy.
How to deploy: Use Only around half of households had safely managed drinking water; 31% lacked safe sanitation in referenced baseline. (Only around half of households had safely managed drinking water; 31% lacked safe sanitation in referenced baseline., 2025) to support the claim that WASH is urban-governance, health, human-capital and inequality policy.
What it does not prove: 'Safely managed' is a composite standard — supply on the premises, available when needed, and free from contamination — so a household can be counted as unserved for reliability alone while its water is clean. The 31% sanitation figure runs on a separate ladder and denominator, so it is not the mirror image of the water number and the two cannot be summed.
Memory hook: Half safe water, 31% unsafe sanitation → coverage hides quality and reliability
Rebuts the claim: 'Headline coverage figures show most Pakistanis now have water and a toilet' — half fall short once availability and contamination are counted.