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Urges government to triple investment on WASH
As Nigeria goes down world’s topmost in open defector
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has warned that Nigeria may miss the 2025 national and 2030 global open defecation-free targets if it continues with ‘business as usual’ attitude.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has been ranked number one in open defector in the world with the eradication of open defecation in India in 2019.
Consequently, the organization called the government to triple its investment on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) through increased budgetary allocation and also urged the media to continue to raise the bar in child health reporting.
UNICEF Chief of WASH in Nigeria, Dr. Jame Bevan, who stated this at a two-day media dialogue on open defecation, organized by UNICEF in collaboration with the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture yesterday in Biu, Borno State, observed that 48 million Nigerians practice open defecation out of which 18 million are children while 95 million Nigerians are without access to basic sanitation services.
She lamented that 88 per cent of healthcare facilities in the country are without access to basic sanitation, 70 per cent of schools in the country without access to basic sanitation services and 80 per cent of markets and motor parks without access to basic sanitation.
Bevan, who was represented by the WASH Specialist, UNICEF Nigeria, Chisom Adimorah, stated that young children are forced to defecate in the open, adding that 18 per cent health facilities lacked toilets while sick people have to defecate in the open or are discouraged from seeking medical aid
She added that Nigeria has been top five open defecator in the world for the past 15 years, moving from fifth place in 2003, second place in 2015 and currently first place in 2023 with the eradication of open defecation in India in 2019.
“There is need to strengthen and scale up proven strategies to reach the country’s goals low financing, commitment and investment interest in sanitation, currently affecting capacities to respond to the multiple demands for sanitation across the country.”
Also speaking, UNICEF Chief of Field Office in the North East, Phuong Nguyen, noted that open defecation was a threat to child survival, particularly those who live in communities affected by conflict.
She noted that only 14 per cent of schools, 12 per cent of healthcare facilities and 0.4 per cent of public places in Borno State has access to basic WASH services (2021 WASHNORM Report), adding that government and stakeholders must collaborate to improve on the situation.
Nguyen noted that the designation of Biu and Shani as open defecation-free was a gift to vulnerable children and families. She stressed the need to extend what has worked in the two communities to others in Borno State. “Indeed, if it is possible in Biu and Shani, it is possible for other communities too”, she held.
She observed that becoming open defecation-free is a journey and not a destination, adding that there were key elements of the journey that they must maintain, including a sustained access to safely managed water and improved toilets both at household and institutional levels.
According to her, a child who has access to improved toilet services at school is at risk when she or he visits their parents in a market without an improved toilet and access to water while a mother who gives birth in a healthcare facility without a water facility is along with her newborn, at risk of infection and even death.
She said: “For Biu and Shani to maintain their Open Defecation-Free status, key elements of the construction of toilets in institutions such as schools, health centres and markets must be sustained. Households must be supported to maintain their improved toilets just as access to safe water for households and public institutions must be sustained.
“We must invest more to strengthen sustainability efforts, including sensitization on hygiene services. Communities must be accountable in the protection and maintenance of WASH facilities. We must also take solid steps to support more communities in Borno State to become open defecation-free.”
Also speaking, the Transitional Chairman of Biu Local Government Area, Hon Sule Ali Abubakar, said that local government has passed a by-law for the sustenance of the ODF status in Biu.
According to him, partners are supporting the re-establishment of a microfinance institution to give loans to households to construct improved toilets and ultimately sustain ODF status in Biu.
He thanked the Netherlands Government, Bank of Germany and the British Government, for putting smiles on the faces of the entire people of Biu Local Government through support for WASH activities.
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