WaterAid launches 5-year strategy to improve water, sanitation services for 17m Nigerians

May 23, 2023

By Gloria Mark

Abuja, Nigeria – In a bid to attaining Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation, WaterAid Nigeria launched its new five-year Country Programme Strategy, to improve access to basic water and sanitation services for 17 million Nigerians.

At the launch of the programme on Tuesday in Abuja, Ms Evelyn Mere, Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria said that the strategy was crucial to ensure that everyone had access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

Mere said that WaterAid is collaborating with multiple stakeholders in addressing the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) challenges facing Nigerians, especially the poor and the vulnerable.

The Country Director said that WaterAid at the global level, recently launched a 10-year strategy.

”This is to see that by 2032, through its work in Nigeria and other parts of the world, 400 million more people are reached with sustainable, safe water, sanitation and hygiene.

“With a population of over 200 million, we plan to have Nigeria contribute substantially to those numbers.

”Secondly, this is to ensure increased annual financing for WASH in low-and middle-income countries to the tune of $15 billion.

“We have invited you today to launch a strategy that you are part of developing. In doing this, we are further urging you to join us as we commence the journey of implementation.

“You are indispensable co-travelers in our quest to reach 10,000,000 people directly through our interventions with basic WASH services and behaviours and influence improved basic WASH access for 17,000,000 more people,” Mere said.

Mere said WaterAid Nigeria was conscious of the rapidly changing context in the world and its peculiar dynamics, hence the need to respond to emerging issues and the changing landscape around WASH.

She added that the strategy laid out the blueprint for maximising emerging opportunities through systemic change and accelerating impact over the next five years.

Mere said the commitment was to ensure that women could improve their productivity and realise their rights to a good education and live free of the risk of gender-based violence.

This, she added, would also see that high rates of maternal and infant mortality due to poor WASH became a distant memory.

Nigeria's Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, said Nigeria was strategic country in the drive to achieve the global WASH targets under SDG 6.

Adamu who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Didi Walson-Jack, said that the strategy would achieve universal, sustainable and safe access to influence change and strengthen WASH resilience to climate change.

“Nigeria’s progress or otherwise in this regard will have great impact at the regional and global levels.

“Some of the most recent initiatives include the initiation of the development of a National WASH Policy for which a multi-stakeholder oversight committee has been inaugurated.

“The signing of Memoranda of Understanding for the take off of the SchoolWASH, HealthWASH and YouthWASH Programmes in collaboration with the relevant Ministries is also one step.

“These high-level initiatives clearly demonstrate the strong political will of the Federal Government in reversing the narrative on Nigeria’s poor WASH indices and accelerating access to sustainable services,” Adamu said.

The Humanitarian Post