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Tag: WASH

  • USAID/LUWASH awards grants to improve WASH services in Lagos

    USAID/LUWASH awards grants to improve WASH services in Lagos

    • By Emmanuel Chidi-maha

    The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Lagos Urban Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (LUWASH) Activity, has awarded grants to enhance WASH service delivery in Lagos State. The grants under contract are being implemented through the USAID/Nigeria LUWASH, Capacity Building  Research, and Advocacy Fund (CAREVO Fund), aiming to boost the sustainability and growth of Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) providing WASH services in areas not currently covered by the Lagos Water Corporation.

    Between May and June 2024, LUWASH distributed $841,217.39 in merit-based grants to seven local organisations in Lagos. These grants are intended to ensure safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services to reach more households. The recipient organisations of this grant include the Clean Borehole Water Sellers Association of Lagos,  Youth Empowerment Foundation (YEF), Optimal Greening Foundation (OGF),  Lagos Civil Society Participation for Development (LACSOP), Development Communications Network (DEVCOMS), Initiative for Disaster Risk Reduction and Urban Resilience (IDRRUR), Organisation for Peaceful Society in Africa (OPSA)

    Speaking with some representatives from the NGOs awarded, Mrs Eluwole Bimbo, general secretary of the Clean Borehole Water Sellers Association of Lagos said that the organisation is aiming to ensure clean water provision and regulatory compliance for borehole water sellers. “We want to ensure clean water is provided to the people of Lagos State and bring borehole water sellers under regulation,” Bimbo stated.

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    She added that the initiative includes training of water sellers and charitable institutions on filter use and regulatory compliance, as well as youth empowerment to attract younger participants to the business.

    Mr Akin Jimoh, Programme Director of the Development Communications Network emphasised the importance of hygiene in preventing diseases like cholera. “Hygiene is of utmost importance, washing hands before eating is very important, cutting your nails as well is very important, our organisation aims to enhance the capacity of CBOs in providing quality WASH services and mobilising resources.

    “We are going to be working in about three LGAs, and then we’ll work with about 30 CBOs , six CDAs , build their capacity, mobilise resources in a way they can stand on their own and provide support to their populace” he added.

    Dr. Chioma Achanma, Executive Director of IDURR, discussed their plans to support 50 SMEs in growing their businesses, facilitated by the grants. “We hope to get to our first milestone and implement our project plans as soon as possible,” she remarked.

  • Stakeholders seek review of WASH policy

    Stakeholders seek review of WASH policy

    Stakeholders in the water, environment and health sector have called for a standard stand-alone Sanitation and Hygiene Policy to address the poor sanitation situation in the country.

    They also called for a review of the current national Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) policy to be in tune with current realities.

    The stakeholders made the call during a validation meeting on the Situation Assessment of Sanitation and Hygiene Policies at the National Level in Abuja.

    Technical Expert of the organisation, Kabiru Abass noted that many policies from years back had prioritised the provision of water supply, thereby relegating the crucial role of scaling up sanitation and hygiene.

    He said sanitation interventions ought to be done in an integrated manner so as to gain traction and promote sustainable hygiene practices in the country.

    Abass said: “We recommend a standard and standalone sanitation and hygiene policy, we also recommend a review of the current National WASH policy 2000 to ensure that it aligns to all African Sanitation Policy core elements, other cross cutting issues.

    “We need to incorporate climate change into sanitation and hygiene policies as well as emergency preparedness plans so as to prevent casualties in the future.”

    He said a multi-disciplinary and inter-ministerial sanitation policy review committee should be established to coordinate the process of reviewing and developing the sanitation policy.

    Abass said there should also be a holistic sanitation and hygiene sub-sector funding mechanism in the reviewed sanitation policy, saying it should also elaborate on the roles of civil society organisations.

    The technical expert however called for renewed collaboration between all stakeholders so as to ensure that when the policies are formulated, implementation would be beneficial for the people.

    Head of WASH, WaterAid Nigeria, Nanpet Chuktu, said the activity was one of the organisation’s pillar in strengthening the system for multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration.

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    Chuktu said the recommendations from the committee for a stand-alone policy, would allow all other phases of sanitation and hygiene to be considered.

    He said: “They are not jettisoning the old thing, but they are saying that if we have one policy that addresses sanitation and hygiene, we will be able to pick unique issues.

    “We see these as important because it will strengthen the sector, it will contribute to the National Action Plan, which is revitalising the sector, If you have the government to align the budget, we would see a reduction in duplicity.”

    Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Elizabeth Ugoh, said the report being validated aligned with the objectives of the African Sanitation Policy Guidelines (ASPG).

    Ugoh said it was critical to acknowledge the absence of a national, clear, coherent and stand-alone sanitation sector policy framework, saying this was a huge challenge.

    She said: “This lacuna has given rise to numerous issues, including overlapping functions, conflicting interventions, ineffective resource deployment, and inadequate monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.

    “A stand-alone sanitation policy is good for Nigeria, Because when you talk of sanitation, you talk of water and sanitation, for instance, look at our WASH accounts in Nigeria, there’s so much funding going into water, sanitation and hygiene is suffering.

    “And so if we have a stand-alone policy, this will help also to attract not just the government budgetary process, to bring in money into sanitation, donors will also see why we need to have more funding and be able to achieve good results in sanitation.”

    The director said the validation meeting was a critical milestone in the journey towards transforming Sanitation and Hygiene practices in Nigeria.

    She added that Nigeria needed to get it right when it comes to sanitation, saying a lot of things depended on it especially in the lives of the most vulnerable.

    The African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW) had developed the ASPG for member states to develop, review, and implement national sanitation and hygiene policies.

    It provided guidance to African governments to enhance or develop a clear and comprehensive sanitation policy that will pave the way for the development and implementation of large-scale national sanitation programmes.

    Fatoa and Associates Nigeria Limited, was engaged to carry out a review of existing sanitation policies at the national level.

  • Okowa hails Buhari for revitalising WASH

    Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has praised President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring a state of emergency on the revitalisation of WASH services.

    The governor supported the strategies contained in the National Action Plan.

    Okowa, who spoke in Asaba, yesterday, said a lot is required for the country to provide public water and sanitation facilities for her growing population, adding that in Delta State, the water and sanitation sectors will receive more funding.

    The governor inaugurated a steering committee, chaired by him, to coordinate the Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Services (WASH) and “proffer effective reforms as well as formulate policies to end open defecation”.

    He said: “In the next four years, we will increase the allocation to water and sanitation sectors, and hold those within the sector accountable as we intend to have good value for any money released.

    “Water, as the saying goes, is life; but regrettably, we have not done enough collectively as a country in the provision of public water and sanitation facilities to our ever growing population.

    “Nigeria currently ranks No. 2 in the world after India, on the open defecation index, as about 25 per cent of our population still practice open defecation. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6.1 and 6.2 seek to stop open defecation by 2025 and ensure access to sustainable and safely managed WASH services by 2030.”

    Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu, represented by Mr. Osikela Omo-Ikirodah, praised Okowa’s for declaring a state of emergency on water and sanitation. He promised that such has qualified the state for financial and technical assistance from the Federal Government, which is determined to end open defecation by 2025.

     

  • Don attributes deaths in developing countries to poor sanitation

    A Senior lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental sciences, University of Uyo, Dr. Emmanuel Akpabio has attributed avoidable deaths in developing countries to poor sanitation, and unsafe drinking water.

    The varsity don, a consultant for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) Act Right, a non-governmental organization, said a larger chunk of statistics from global the global deaths, is recorded from Sub Sahara Africa.

    “Out of the one billion people without access to treated drinking water and 2.5 billion lacking adequate sanitation, over 83 percent is concentrated in Sub Sahara Africa while infectious disease outbreaks in the region are much related to inability to get the water, sanitation and hygiene.

    “WaSH has diverse dimensions, water (quantity and quality). It is associated with the  transmission of water-washed, water borne, water –based and water related disease  arising from inadequate supply, poor quality, hosts to aquatic invertebrates and the spread of diseases agents respectively,’’ he said.

    Akpabio, who is a Marie Sklodowska fellow, at the department of Geography and Environmental sciences, University of Dundee, United Kingdom stated this during a one day public engagement on a European
    Union project aimed at improving the capacities of policy makers, scientists and relevant stakeholders  for achieving evidence-based policies in the Water, Sanitation and  Hygiene (WaSH) sector held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    “So, the sources of water we drink, the storage medium and the way we manage water are fundamental. Sanitation and hygiene carry several elements including personal hygiene, domestic and environmental cleanliness, waste  disposal, hand washing, food hygiene , menstrual hygiene, child , safe disposal of human excrement and control of waste water,’’ he stated.

    He lamented the impact of water, sanitation, hygiene and public health on children and woman who spend so much of their time and energy to secure water for drinking at the expense of engaging in other productive/study activities.

    According to him, children carry the main responsibility for collecting water with girls under 15 years of age being twice as likely to carry the responsibility as boys under 15 years pointing out that in Africa, 90 percent of the work of gathering water for the household and for food preparation is done by women.

    “Indeed, WaSH challenge in Sub South Africa is complicated by the existence of layers of socio-cultural and religious beliefs, attitudes and values across geographies, religion and economic groups, our greatest problem is  our inability to disengage WaSH matters from socio-cultural behaviours and religious beliefs which in some cases
    are reproduced at the policy arena,” he said.

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    He pointed out that that Nigeria’s inability to evolve practical and relevant policies for the water, hygiene and sanitation sector has hampered her effort to secure and sustain improved WaSH sector performance particularly in urban areas adding that roughly 42 percent of the urban and semi urban populations are estimated to have access to safe drinking water as compared with about 29 percent of the rural dwellers.

    Quoting a report from the year 2000 by the Federal Government that only Abuja and limited areas in Lagos have a sewage system, he noted that the task of securing access to safe drinking water and sanitary services is transferred to the ordinary citizens who have to depend on all forms of unimproved sources mostly dictated by economic, social and environmental circumstances as well as religious and cultural beliefs.

    Calling on the Federal Government of Nigeria to formulate a coherent policy  on water sanitation and hygiene, the University teacher said the present adhoc arrangement was not good enough adding that the entire government system has to be reformed to pave way for innovation and smart ways of project implementation.

  • Minister stresses importance of water, sanitation in life of a child

    ….Nigeria ranks 3rd in open defecation…UNICEF

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has stressed the importance of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the life of a child. 

    This is as the United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ), WASH specialist,  Mainga Moono Banda said Nigeria ranked third in the world with the largest number of people practicing open defecation. 

    The duo spoke at the opening of a two day agenda for Media dialogue on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ( WASH ) in Awka, Anambra state also urged the media to help push the course. 

    The WASH programme which is funded by European Union and coordinated by the United Nations Children Fund ( UNICEF ) has been on in the country in the last five years in six states and 20 Local Government Areas.

    The minister noted that clean water and sanitation are so essential for the survival and development of all children. 

    “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene is very important in the life of a Child. The Sustainable Development Goal 6 clearly emphasizes the importance of clean water and sanitation. Water and Sanitation are essential for the survival and development of all children, while simple Hygiene such as hand washing can save lives, the minister said”.

    He also added that “The issue of safe water and sanitation has been in the front burner of development issues in Nigeria because it affects a major segment of our society, a lot of whom are children.”

    The minister who was represented by Mr. Olumide Osanyinpeju, Deputy Director, Child Right Information Bureau Federal Ministry of Information and Culture noted that the country has achieved a lot in the area of water supply and sanitation, however said a lot still needed to be done. 

     “A lot of milestone has also been achieved, and a lot still needs to be done considering the fact that we are yet to attain that level where we can confidently say that our communities all have safe water, sanitation and hygiene. It is to this effect that this media dialogue is organized.”

    He also commended UNICEF and EU who have been in the forefront of ensuring that the country have access to safe drinking water supply, adequate sanitation and proper hygiene in our environment and communities. 

    He welcomed the continuous support in ensuring that safe water, sanitation and hygiene are brought to the rural people of Nigeria through the WASH Programme.

    In her presentation Mainga who quoted from the 2017 MICS survey said, over 46 million people still practice Open Defection (ODF) in Nigeria as 33 million of this figure live in the rural area.
    “130 million across the country use unapproved sanitary facilities, more than half live in the rural area while 45,000 children die annually from disease caused by poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene.”

    She said WASH plays a critical role in improving  health, nutrition and hygiene in Nigeria adding for Nigeria to meet up its SDG goal 6 on water and sanitation  by 2030, provision of safe and adequate hygiene that would curb issues of water borned and sanitation related diseases would be reduced.

    “Despite all effort, sanitation is declining instead of improving and this is calls for concern. The trend in water between year 200 and 2015 revealed that the gradients is going up instead of declining same with sanitation especially in the rural area.”

    She said the goal is, “we are not leaving anyone behind whether in the rural or urban area.”

  • Children dying of water-borne diseases in Nigeria – UNICEF

    Children dying of water-borne diseases in Nigeria – UNICEF

    The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday lamented rising death of children under five years in Nigeria from preventable water-borne diseases.

    Speaking at a two-day workshop on media networking in Otuoke, Ogbia, Bayelsa State, UNICEF said apart from neonatal-related cases, about 50 per cent of deaths were caused by lack of access to drinkable water.

    The workshop on Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) was organised by the European Union (EU), the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Bayelsa State Government.

    UNICEF’s WASH specialist, Martha Hoodia, in her presentation said, access to water and proper sanitation could reduce poverty through decrease in morbidity, mortality and reduction in health expenditures, among others.

    She said EU, UNICEF and the Bayelsa State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), had been developing various innovative approaches to end water-related deaths in rural communities.

    She said UNICEF and its partners with effective knowledge management produced learning-based approaches and evidence-based advocacy and programmes to stop the menace in communities.

    Another expert, Ijeoma Onuoha, said the workshop was designed to sensitise and update media practitioners with accurate and updated information on reportage of WASH related issues.

    Ijeoma urged the media to help UNICEF and EU to properly disseminate information especially on water-borne diseases and also report ongoing efforts to tackle the problem.

  • Lagos, NGO collaborate on WASH policy

    The Lagos State Government has taken steps to evolve a policy to drive the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. This came to the fore at the weekend in Ikeja, at a retreat organised by the state government in conjunction with the Save the Children International (SCI) on the review of the draft WASH policy.

    At the event, the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare. said clean water, basic toilets and good hygiene practices were essential for the survival and development of children, while being very critical to human health, survival and development. He added that many countries and cities were challenged in providing adequate sanitation for their entire populations, leaving people at risk of WASH-related diseases.

    “According to World Health Organisation (WHO), there are around 2.4 billion people who lacked basic sanitation (more than 35 per cent of the world’s population), and 663 million who do not have access to clean water sources,” he said.

    Adejare noted that access to safe water and sanitation could turn problems to potential by unlocking education and work opportunities, and bring about improved health for women, children and families across the world.

    He stated that the  Lagos State government was determined to achieve the aims of the UNICEF Sustainable Development Goals to “ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”.

    He said: “It is in furtherance of the foregoing, that we are all gathered here  to critically look at the newly enacted Environmental Management and Protection Law 2017 and the draft policy on Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) with a view to developing an implementation framework.”

    The SCI Area Operations Manager for Lagos and Cross River, Roy Chikwem, stated that the NGO, through the Stop Diarrhoea Initiaitve (SDI), considered the approval and full implementation of the Lagos WASH policy as the bedrock of preventing childhood diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases among under-five children in in the state.

    “We believe the retreat will resolve the overlapping functions between the MDAs, integrate the PENWASH mandate of the WASH policy and fully integrate the New Environmental Protection Law recently signed by the government,” Chikwem told The Nation.

    The policy is expected to guide government activities in relation to water and sanitation, identify the relevant WASH Agencies and streamline their roles.

  • NGO seeks speedy approval of WASH policy

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Save the Children International, has called for the speedy approval of the Lagos State Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) policy.

    This, the body said, is because of its implications for achieving the SDG-6 targets, aimed at ensuring sustainable management of water and sanitation and public health, especially in women and children.

    Its Area Operations Manager, (Lagos and Cross River), Mr. Roy Chikwem, spoke during this year’s WED in Lagos.

    Chikwem, whose organisation partnered the state government for the celebration, said it had become important to create awareness for the protection of the environment as there would not be a society, if the environment was  destroyed.

    He explained that his organisation’s mandate is to ensure children’s protection, survival, development and their participation, adding that the NGO management is sad to see the effect a poor environment is having on them.

    He said this had led to the spread of childhood illness, such as malaria, diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid and pneumonia, which account for large percentages of under-five deaths in the country and other low-income countries.

    Chikwem noted that while the  the environment affects the management and control of Childhood Diarrhoea Disease (CDD), the organisation is convinced that by ensuring improved quantity and quality of water in households and promoting community sanitation, CDD would be reduced.

    “It is our hope that this year’s WED will reawaken our consciousness to the impact of individual, community, and government action on the environment.  For if we all take responsibility for our environment and keep it clean and safe then we will have cleaner environment, safer water, lesser disease burdens, more money for families, improved living conditions and a prosperous future for our children,” Chikwem said.

    Through the group’s Stop Diarrhoea Initiative (SDI) project,he said the organisation has continued to collaborate with the government and other key actors to push for the development,adequate-resourcing and operationalisation of articulated strategic frameworks and implementation plans that address key elements of UNICEF-WHO Seven-Point Plan for the control and prevention of Diarrhoea, particularly those addressing the environment, at national and state The Save the Children International is an international NGO that treats children globally in over 120 countries for over 80 years.

    It has been working in Nigeria since 2001 and has offices and programmes in Lagos, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kebbi, Borno, Kano, and Plateau, among others.

  • NGO wants speedy approval of WASH

    The Save the Children International, a non governmental organisation, has called on the government to ensure a speedy approval of the Lagos State Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) policy. This is because of its direct implications in achieving the SDG-6 targets- which is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, and the overall improvement in the health of the public, especially women and children.

    The Area Operations Manager, (Lagos & Cross River) of Save the Children International, Mr. Roy Chikwem, made this know at this year’s WED celebrations in Lagos, on Monday.

    Chikwem, whose organisation partnered the Lagos state government for the celebration, said it has become imperative to create awareness and action for the protection of the environment as there will not be a society if the environment is  destroyed.

    He explained that given that his organisation’s mandate is to ensure child protection, survival, development and participation, the NGO finds it saddening to see the damaging impact of a poor environment on the spread of childhood illness such as Malaria, Diarrhoea, Cholera, Typhoid and Pneumonia which account for large percentages of under- five deaths in Nigeria and other low-income countries.

    Chikwem noted that while the interplay of the environment in the management and control of Childhood Diarrhoea Disease (CDD) cannot be overstressed, yet, the organisation is convinced that by ensuring improved quantity and quality of water in households and promoting community wide total sanitation, CDD will be drastically reduced.

    “It is our hope that this year’s WED will reawaken our consciousness to the impact of individual, community, and government action on the environment.  For if we all take responsibility for our environment and keep it clean and safe then we will have cleaner environment, safer water, lesser disease burdens, more money for families, improved living conditions and a prosperous future for our Children,” Chikwem said.

    Through the Stop Diarrhoea Initiative (SDI) project, the organisation has continued to collaborate with the government and other key actors, to push for the development, adequate-resourcing and operationalisation of clearly articulated strategic frameworks and implementation plans that address key elements of UNICEF- WHO 7-Point Plan for the control and prevention of Diarrhoea, particularly those directly addressing the environment, at both National and State levels.

    Save the Children is an international NGO working to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children globally in over 120 Countries for over 80 years. It has been working in Nigeria since 2001 with offices and programmes in Lagos, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kebbi, Borno, Kano, Plateau, Akwa-Ibom, and Cross River with a focus on Health and Child Survival (including Nutrition and HIV/AIDS), Education, Hunger and Livelihoods, Child Protection and Child Rights Governance.

    In 2013, the NGO berthed in Lagos state, and has been implementing projects that seek to improve Education, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Care and School Health and Nutrition.

  • ‘80% of maternal deaths caused by unhygienic deliveries’

    ‘80% of maternal deaths caused by unhygienic deliveries’

    The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says 80 per cent of maternal deaths are caused by unhygienic delivery practices at Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) nationwide.

    Mr Bioye Ogunjobi, the UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Specialist, made the disclosure at the National Stakeholders’ Workshop on Draft Hygiene Promotion Strategy and Guidelines in Abuja.

    According to him, effective provision of WASH facilities will go a long way to promote safe health care.

    He explained that in Nigeria, many PHCs do not adhere to minimum WASH standards to provide adequate and safe levels of health care.

    He added that “reports say 80 per cent of maternal deaths are caused by unhygienic delivery practices in PHCs across the country.

    “However, for PHCs to work well, they must have good source to water, safe excreta disposal, drainage, hospital waste and hygiene promotion facilities.’’

    The WASH specialist said it was worthy to note that inadequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities were known to cause 10 out of 100 hospitalisations in Nigeria.

    He stressed the need for stakeholders to see access to WASH as a human right, saying “this pays a vital role in attaining universal health coverage.’’

    Ogunjobi said it was saddening to see that there were no specific policies on hygiene promotion in PHCs as it were.

    He said if healthcare facilities were overcrowded, lacked toilets, access to water, patients and health workers may be exposed to danger.

    Mr Job Ominyi, a WASH Officer with UNICEF, also said Nigeria needed to have a hygiene promotion strategy, saying access to water and sanitation was central to development.

    He said that with effective hygiene promotion safety, 50 per cent transmission of water and excreta related diseases would be reduced to the barest minimum.

    Ominyi said the Fund was carrying out a research on Menstrual Hygiene Management to ascertain the level of awareness on myths and practices.

    This, Ominyi said, would enable the organisation know how to intervene to reduce negative beliefs and taboos associated with menstruation in some communities.

    He said Nigeria was one of the 14 countries carrying out such research, saying Katsina, Anambra and Ogun were the targeted states.

    He urged Nigerians to create accessible sanitation facilities, privacy, access to water supply and effective waste disposal for menstruating girls.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was jointly organised by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and UNICEF to seek ways to enable Nigeria to have a hygiene promotion strategy.