Over 70,000 under five-year-old children die of water-borne diseases annually.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) states that high morbidity and mortality rates among under five years Nigerian children is majorly caused by inaccessibility to improve water and sanitation. Due to poor access to these necessities, children resort to contaminated drinking water and poor sanitary conditions which makes them more vulnerable to water-borne diseases, especially diarrhea, and is responsible for deaths of over 70,000 under five-year-old children every year. In every part of Nigeria, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) requires urgent intervention for the safety of citizens and the environment.
WaterAid Nigeria in partnership with WASH Media Network and the Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN) are frontline organizations conducting intervention programs across the country and have worked in about 100 communities in different states. WaterAid also recently carried out a two-day workshop in the WASH project with the involvement of critical stakeholders, civil society organizations (CSOs), the media and researchers. This is done for the sake of creating awareness and strengthening the implementation of the African Sanitation Policy Guidelines (ASPG).
New rules would increase access to clean water and improved hygiene.
Guidelines (ASPG) were developed by the Secretariats of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) of which Nigeria is a member. The aim of the ASPG is to enable provision of guidance to African governments concerning implementation of sanitation policies, revision, reviews and development. The ASPG document was published in 2021 under the study and review of WaterAid and its partners for publicity and smooth implementation of the policy at national, state and local levels to increase access to clean water, improved hygiene and proper sanitation for Nigerians.
Interrogation of the progress of eradicating open defecation by 2030, by stakeholders in the WASH project, for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was emphasized by the Country Director of WaterAid Nigeria, Evelyn Mere. She stated that WASH is amidst the purview of multiple Nigerian ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and the need for inter-ministerial collaboration for the achievement of safely managed sanitation for all Nigerians. Civil societies and the media were also said to be useful for achieving the objectives.
Only 46 percent of Nigerians access basic sanitation services.
Expressing his remarks on the policy, the National Coordinator of WASH Media Network, Wale Elekolusi, asserted that the collaboration between CSOs and the media is important to tackle problems of water and sanitation confronting Nigerians and aid easy implementation of the ASPG guidelines. Also, the National Coordinator of NEWSAN, Attah Benson, applauded WaterAid for the organization of an event that addresses WASH problems. He affirmed that the problems facing WASH policies is at the state and local levels and should be curbed by enactment of a workable policy.
At the two-day workshop, papers were presented on projects related to ASPG and WASH. The first paper – titled “Policies and Institution for Achieving Safely Managed Sanitation in Nigeria: Roles and Rules for CSOs and WASH Media” – was presented by Danladi Ephraim, a development consultant and researcher. The statistics of the presentation reveal that basic sanitation services are accessed by only 46 percent of Nigerians; open defecation, capacity constraints, fragmented institutional setup and many others are practiced by 23 percent.
ASPG addresses safe management of excreta and others.
The presentation of the second paper, “African Sanitation Policy Guidelines (ASPG): Standardization of WASH Policies for Maximum Impact,” was done by Kolawole Banwo, the Head of Advocacy, Policy and Communication of WaterAid. It was said that the policy serves as a platform for improvement of collaboration for speedy progress and also to enable provision of full access to safely managed situation to every Nigerian. He included that the ASPG concerns itself with the safe management of excreta, disposal of anal cleansing, associated hygiene practices, and menstrual hygiene materials.
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AMCOW: Website
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WASH needs urgent intervention because of Nigerian children that lacks good pipeborne water that causes the death of so many infants and kudos to UNICEF for intervening inorder to save Nigeria children from infant death.
We should use this WASH policy to help us solve this water borne disease problem. We need to get access to very clean water. It is going to solve a lot of our problems.
That a significant number of Nigerian children under the age of five have high rates of morbidity and mortality is primarily due to a lack of accessibility to improved water and sanitation.
Because of a lack of these resources, children are more likely to consume contaminated water and live in unsanitary environments, increasing their risk of contracting water-borne diseases.
Water, sanitation, and hygiene require immediate action across the entirety of Nigeria in order to protect both the people living there and the surrounding environment.
prominent groups that run intervention programs all throughout the country and have experience working in about one hundred communities located in a variety of locations
that’s fantastic, The ASPG’s mission is to facilitate the delivery of advice to African governments on matters of sanitation policy implementation, modification, review, and development.
It is a very shameful for a country like Nigeria to be talking of not available of portable water to her citizens,some countries that are not rich like Nigeria are doing fine in term of providing portable water to their citizen.
The policy to expand Nigerians’ access to safe drinking water, better hygiene practices, and adequate sanitation, developed by WaterAid and its partners, is under evaluation.
WASH is under the purview of several Nigerian MDAs, and there is a need for cross-departmental cooperation to ensure that all Nigerians have access to sanitation that is both reliable and safe.
the necessity of collaboration between different ministries in order to provide sanitation that is both safe and well managed for all Nigerians
The challenges that are faced by WASH policies are on the state and municipal levels, and they should be mitigated by the adoption of a policy that is functional.
The strategy provides a framework for enhancing cooperation for rapid progress and facilitating the provision of full access to a safely managed situation for every Nigerian.
Inaccessibility to clean water and sanitation is a major factor in the high rate of mortality in children. The WASH project need intervention for the safety of citizens
According to reports, the policy provides a platform for increased collaboration for quick success as well as makes it possible to give every Nigerian complete access to situations that are safely controlled.
Using of wash policy will help in preventing water borne disease children are dying of this disease something should be done to stop it and prevent it from happen taking care of their environment to ensure safe and good waters
Some countries that are not as resourceful as Nigeria are doing just fine in terms of providing portable water to their citizenry, making it all the more embarrassing that Nigeria is discussing the lack of a reliable supply of drinking water for its people.
That is too much. I think we really need wash intervention in Nigeria. Government need to do something very urgent to save the children
We appreciate them for the work they are doing. More is still to be done. The fight against terrorism hasn’t ended. They should get access to their operations and be more volatile in their work.
Having over 70000 children under five year dieing yearly is very alarming and calls attention .Every part of Nigeria, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) need to be looked into and address to forestall the raising death rate.
In every part of Nigeria, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) should be carefully monitored to be able to curb the rising number dead among the children under age 5.