By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, with financial support from the Department for International Development, DFID has pledged sustained support for Benue to enable the state attain Open Defecation Free, ODF, status by 2025.

The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, Manager, UNICEF Enugu Field Office, Ms. Mamita Bora Thakkar gave the assurances Thursday at a media briefing ahead of the celebration of Ogbadibo Local Government Area, LGA, of the state for attaining Open Defecation Free, ODF, status.

She assured that the global organization would also continue to support the state implementation effective sanitation programmes.

While commending Ogbadibo LGA for attaining the incredible feat of becoming ODF, Ms. Thakkar said “this is the third LGA in the State and one of the 20 in the country out of the 774 LGAs in Nigeria to attain the status.

“UNICEF takes this opportunity to congratulate the people of Ogbadibo, the LGA WASH team, the State Government of Benue, led by Governor Samuel Ortom, the Commissioner of Water Resources and Environment Engr. Dondo Ahire, the Benue Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, BERWASSA, General Manager, Mrs. Torkwase lkyaator, and the numerous men and women who worked tirelessly to achieve a shared vision of ODF Nigeria.

“The people of Ogbadibo, the men, women and children, the LGA Chiefs and members will all gather tomorrow, February 14 to celebrate this victory over disease, and set themselves on a journey to good health.

“It is proven that Open defecation has devastating consequences for public health. Faecal contamination of the environment and poor hygiene practices remain a leading cause of child mortality, morbidity, undernutrition and stunting, and can potentially have negative effects on cognitive development.

“Poor sanitation can also be a barrier to education and economic opportunity, with women and girls often particularly vulnerable to the consequences of poor sanitation services.

“The multiple adverse effects of poor sanitation show how SDG 6.2 underpins and will be crucial to achieving many other SDGs including those related to nutrition, health, education, poverty and economic growth, and gender equality.

“There needs to be a combination of strategies to achieve sanitation at a scale that will produce many more Ogbadibos in the state and in the country at large.

“So creating demand through institutionalizing community approaches to total sanitation or Community Led Total Sanitation, CLTS as we call here, addressing behavioral barriers, and creating a sustained social norm of not practicing open defecation, strengthening supply chains and markets so that they meet the demand for quality sanitation goods and services that are affordable to all including the lowest quintile and otherwise marginalised communities and individuals will allow households to move progressively up the sanitation ladder

“Alongside that, strengthening of the enabling environment and national systems to deliver sustainable sanitation services with an equity focus is important to ensure that we leave no one behind, in our pursuit of achieving scale.

“The sector requires increased funding, strengthened monitoring and systems that can support better decision making and enhances sustainability of programmes.

“In Nigeria, and Benue in particular UNICEF with the financial support of DFID has been consistently supporting the State Government for the past several years to implement effective sanitation programmes.

“We’ve worked closely to build capacities in CLTS, strengthen monitoring systems, build community institutions that can focus on sustainability, engaged in strategic planning and coordination through evidence-based advocacy, knowledge management through data generation, to inform and strengthen service delivery, policies, procedures, monitoring and evaluation is a key focus.”

Continuing, she said, “the North Central Region of Nigeria has the highest incidence of open defecation in Nigeria with an average of 53.9 percent people practicing open defecation.

“The NORM data of 2018-19 shows that 50 percent of the population in Benue which is close to 2.9 million practice Open Detecation and only 9 percent of the House Holds have access to soap and water for handwashing.

“This is indeed not and encouraging picture. However, Ogbadibo is showing the way for change. 14 out of the 23 LGAs in Benue are now putting efforts to become ODF, and to achieve the 2023 target of a ODF State. Already, four LGAs have been declared open defecation free.

“This has been the result. It is very encouraging to see that Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, is being driven at the highest level in the State.

“To address the reported low access levels to WASH services and the consequent high prevalence of water-borne diseases in different parts of the Benue State, the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom launched the Clean Benue: Use The Toilet Campaign on December 10, 2019, to also mark the World Toilet Day, organized by the BERWASSA.

“Governor Ortom also used the opportunity to Declare a State of Emergency on the WASH sector in Benue State, inaugurated an inter-ministerial State Emergency Action Steering Committee chaired by the Governor for WASH emergency actions, and flagged-off the Clean Benue Campaign.

“These actions are in line with the global actions to attain the Sustainable Development Goal 6, and the national targets outlined under the National Action Plan for the Revitalization of the WASH sector, the elimination of open defecation by 2025 and universal access to water supply and safely managed sanitation by 2030.”

She said, “the National WASH Action Plan envisages the establishment of a renewed Federal-State partnership towards the credible pursuits of the SDGs and a system to ensure that State Governments receive effective guidance, support and incentives to promote investments and reform In the WASH sector.

“Moving forward, while we celebrate the success and achievements of Ogbadibo, we must not lose sight of the larger vision and outcomes for health, education, nutrition, gender equity, which can be achieved through better sanitation.

“It is also important to fast track efforts to achieve the goals of ODF Benue by 2025. Strategies need to be developed for State wide ODF, investment plans need to be firmed up at the LGA level, budgets need to be released, political momentum needs to be further built and a new social norm towards ending Open Defecation needs to be established,” she emphasized.

Earlier, Benue state Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, Mr. Dondo Ahire said the attainment of Ogbadibo LGA was worthy of note because it was the third in the state and the first amongst the eight LGAs implementing the Sanitation Hygiene and Water in Nigeria, SHAWN, programme in the State.

“It is also the 16th in the country to attain this status. On the 27th November 2019, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, F MWR, declared Ogbadibo LGA open defecation free LGA.

“This followed the successful completion of a rigorous process of three-stage verification, certification and a final validation by the National Task Group on Sanitation, NTGS.

“The people of Ogbadibo LGA, Chiefs, WASHCOM members and local government authorities have rolled out drums and will be gathering tomorrow February 14, 2020 at LGA Secretariat, Otukpa, Ogbadibo LGA to celebrate this achievement.

“Representatives from the state government, relevant ministries, departments and agencies, the Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment and the General Manager, BERWASSA will all be in attendance.

“Delegates from the Federal Government, representatives of the Minister for Water Resources, the National Task Groups on Sanitation, NTGS, the WASH ambassador Engr. Ebelle Okeke and the National Coordinator, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, WSSCC, Mrs. Elizabeth Jeiyol will also be in attendance.

“Ogbadibo LGA has joined other LGAs in Nigeria to be validated ODF, the LGA’s over 200,000 populations, now live in clean, healthy environments and all households and key public spaces have constructed for themselves latrines and sanitation facilities.

“They have put an end to open defecation through a collective behavioral change process. The SHAWN programme in Nigeria is ground breaking, spanning over 10 years and millions of dollars collaborative programme that is jointly funded by the state government and DFID/UNICEF that is transforming the health of over 3224 communities in Benue state.

According to the Commissioner, “the programme uses the Community Led Total Sanitation, CLTS, approach, empowering all communities to collectively change their sanitation and hygiene behavior, ensuring that every community member use a toilet and practice good hygiene.

“SHAWN programme is a partnership programme of the Nigerian government and UNICEF and funded by the British Department for lntemational Development, DFID.

“The SHAWN programme began initially with 3 pilot LGAs of Ogbadibo, Oju and Konshisha in the year 2010; 2012 saw the addition of Tarka LGA as the 4th LGA under the SHAWN l programme.

“UNICEF-DFID extended the programme in its second phase of implementation to include LGAs like Buruku, Katsina-Ala and Obi with Guma LGA coming on board in March 2017.

“Today there are 8 LGAs implementing the SHAWN programme in the state. The SHAWN programme aims to scale up its activities across with a target to achieve a state wide ODF by 2025 as encapsulated in the state road map to ODF by 2025.

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“The government of Benue State has honoured their commitment to the SHAWN Programme, through its investment of over hundreds of million as Government Counterpart Cash Contribution for the provision of WASH facilities and services over the years.

“The State has not rested on its oars by scaling up the SHAWN programme by replicating the programme in the other LGAs of Apa, Okpokwu and Kwande with state and LGA funds with an aim to cash in on the gains of the SHAWN programme thus broadening the scope of coverage of WASH activities.

“These are in line with the commitment of Governor Ortom as he only just recently declared a state of emergency in the water and sanitation sector and also launched the clean Benue State. With this, the state is therefore on course to become the first open defecation Free State,” he added.

Vanguard