The Minister of Water Resources Engr. Suleiman Adamu has said the Nigerian Government and other stakeholders in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector have increased access to water and sanitation across the country.
The Minister, who is currently in Jakarta, Indonesia, for the Sector Ministers Meeting (SMM) organized by Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), made this announcement alongside his colleagues, the Minister of State for Environment, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, and the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire.
According to a statement released by the Director Department of press, public relations, Mrs. Funmi Imuetinyan, the Minister further explained that the 2022 SMM, themed 'Building Forward Better for Recovery and Resilience,' would focus on the integration of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), techniques in tackling the negative effects of climate, COVID-19, and economic crises.
Engr Adamu also updated the MAM process on the progress made by the SWA's four constituencies in Nigeria: the government, civil society, private sector, and development partners, as well as the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) at the global level.
He went on to say that the pledges made at the SMM in Costa Rica in 2019 were in line with Nigeria's national priorities in the WASH sector.
He also said " The three commitments made by the government include the Internalization of the National WASH Action Plan by Sub-national Governments and operationalization of PEWASH Programme by end of 2019; the Operationalization of the Communication Strategy for Open Defecation Free Campaign by 2020; as well as the scale up of WASH Information Management System and the execution of WASHNORM Annual Survey respectively"
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The Honourable Minister further noted that the commitments by the Civil Society, Private Sector and Development Partners were targeted at supporting the actualization of government commitments with specific support to the Ministry and focal States.
In another session on the role of political leadership in addressing the triple crises of health, climate and economy, Engr Adamu highlighted evidence-based advocacy, inter sectoral coordination and collaboration, as some of the strategies engaged by Nigeria to ensure the high level prioritization of WASH in the country.
He mentioned some of the initiatives in the sector such as the PEWASH programme, the Presidential launch of the National WASH Action Plan, the Clean Nigeria Campaign, and the signing of the Executive Order No.9 and ODF Pledge Card by the President, among others.
The SMM is expected to strengthen the existing Inter-sectoral collaboration among the line ministries towards achieving the SDGs at country and global levels.
