A WASH NORM Report 2019 released by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says only six per cent persons have access to pipe borne water and seven percent of households that use communal water sources, pay water tariff in Sokoto state.
Also, while 38 per cent of persons in the state have access to basic water supply services, 65% households drink water that is contaminated with E.coli in their various homes.
UNICEF’s WASH Specialist, Ferdinand Njue stated this during the commemoration of World Water Day 2021, held at the Cabinet Office in Sokoto on Monday.
According to the report, while five per cent of households safely manage drinking water, 88 percent of public water facilities are functional and an estimated 45,920 water points facilities exist in the state.
On the state’s performance in sanitation and hygiene, the report said 41 percent of persons has access to basic sanitation services; 929,240 (18%) people practice open defecation and 32 percent have handwashing facilities on premises with water and soap.
Relatedly, the report said 17 percent of households in the state use latrines shared by more than one household with 18 percent households using safely manage sanitation facilities; 11 percent has improved sanitation services with handwashing facilities and soad while 23 percent has improved sanitation usable and accessible to persons living with disabilities.
On WASH performance, while 21 percent of schools have basic water supply services; 23 percent with basic sanitation services, zero percent of schools have basic hygiene services, the report reveals.
In the healthcare sector, the report shows WASH performance recording 57 percent of schools as having basic water supply services; four percent of schools have basic sanitation services and zero percent schools have basic hygiene services.
The report added that households in the state spent N93,938 billion ($307 million) on water, sanitation and hygiene services in 2018. Thirty percent of the amount was spent on water, 8.3 percent on sanitation and 61.7 percent on hygiene.
Njue noted that the provision of potable water is the collective duty of all stakeholders.
Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Umar Bature said there was the need to raise awareness about the alarming global water crisis in Sokoto.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Muhammad Gatawa, he said Sokoto state government had reactivated 39 boreholes at Asare; constructed water scheme at Almajiri School and improved water supply at Giginya Army barrack, among other projects.
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