The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged for increased investment to accelerate progress for climate friendly and water sanitation services in Borno and North-East in general.
The UNICEF Chief of Borno Field Office, Ms Phuong Nguyen, made the call in her address to mark this year’s World Water Day, with theme: “Water for Peace”, in Maiduguri on Friday.
Nguyen said there was a need to expand and scale up durable solutions like the ‘Small-Town Approach’ in more Borno towns and adopt safely managed sanitation practices by addressing Fecal Sludge Management.
“Government must also support and promote private sector engagement in such initiatives.
“There is a need to prevent the vandalisation and theft of WASH infrastructure in camps and communities. Vandalisation and theft has reduced capacity to maximise returns from WASH investments.
“It is important to put appropriate safeguarding measures in place and strengthen relevant agencies like the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and Borno Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) to support these measures,” Nguyen said.
She said that UNICEF’s partnership with the government in the north-east to improve access to safe water is yielding results with about 900,000 people gaining access to safe water supply services.
According to her, 46 schools and 11 primary healthcare centres were supported with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services.
She said that the success stories stemming from improved access to safe water in Borno is the achievement of open defecation-free in Biu and Shani Local Government Areas of the state.
“Together with Borno, we are pioneering the innovative Small Town Water Scheme which eliminates expensive and unsustainable water trucking system to communities affected by conflict and integrates networks of new and rehabilitated boreholes as well as water pipes powered by climate friendly solar system.
“But while we have made considerable progress, access to safe water is still a mirage for millions of children, households and communities in north-east Nigeria.
“Despite efforts to improve WASH services in Borno, access to safe water and sanitation remains a significant challenge. For instance, only four per cent of the population use safely managed water in Borno, according to the National Outcome Routine Mapping (NORM) 2021,” Nguyen said.
She lauded donor organisations like the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Cooperation Office (FCDO), Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and German Development Bank (BMZ) for their support.
NAN
