International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has expanded media engagement across Pakistan to strengthen water accountability through the WRAP programme funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
Environmental journalists from Karachi and Quetta attended an Environmental Journalists’ Quarterly Meeting (EJQM) and media exposure visits, receiving briefings from IWMI Country Representative Pakistan Muhammad Ashraf and Gender & Social Inclusion Specialist Kanwal Waqar on governance, accountability and WRAP interventions.
The journalists then visited the programme’s two pilot districts to see water solutions in action. In Chakwal, reporters observed soil moisture sensors, flux towers and CTD divers and spoke with women farmers who described how sensors have removed guesswork in irrigation, cutting water use, fuel consumption and pumping costs.
In Mansehra, the delegation saw precision irrigation raising orchard productivity through targeted soil moisture monitoring while a community-scale hydraulic ram pump supplies water to uphill fields. Local accounts highlighted time savings for women and girls, reduced livestock stress and new opportunities for small-scale vegetable production.
By enabling first-hand observation and inclusive storytelling, IWMI is strengthening water accountability and ensuring WRAP’s on-ground impact is conveyed to policymakers, local stakeholders and wider audiences through credible, independent media reporting.
