…As Water, Environment ministries collaborate

By Emmanuel Elebeke

The Federal government has put machineries in motion to develop a National Water, Sanitation and Health (WASH) policy for Nigeria.

The policy when completed and approved will allow government to plan WASH better and invest in the right places to meet the needs of the right people. It will also guide stakeholder to plan together in order to put money in the right places for efficiency, effectiveness and maximum impact.

This was revealed on Thursday at a meeting of the Technical Committee for the Development of National WASH Policy and Implementation Strategy held at Bolton White hotel, Abuja.

The meeting was convened by the Federal Ministry of Water Resource, the Federal Ministry of Environment in collaboration with WaterAid, UNICEF, World Bank and other stakeholders to address the perceived imbalances in WASH Service delivery throughout the country.

The project is expected to be driven by a collaborative effort of the Federal ministries of Water resources and Environment, who have pledged to work in sink with other critical and development partners to realise the objective.

Speaking at the meeting, the Director, Water Supply and Support Services, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Dr. N Madu said improved WASH services have multi-layered impact towards other human development outcomes such as poverty reduction and inclusive growth.
He also underlined the need for Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation and hygiene are fundamental to healthier standards of living for people.

‘‘The meeting today is a testament to the fact that we are poised to advance the development of this national WASH Policy. Our major tasks today is to further galvanize efforts and dissect the relevant sections of the terms of reference, ToR as we are now at the verge of engaging a suitable consulting firm for the review process.

‘‘The improved standards made possible by WASH include better physical health, protection of the environment, better educational outcomes, convenience time savings, assurance of lives lived with dignity, and equal treatment for both men and women.

‘‘Improved WASH services is central to reducing poverty, promoting equality, and supporting socio-economic development. We hope to harness the relevant inputs from various groups which will enrich and deepen our understanding of the assignment ahead.’’

Also speaking, the representative of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs. Okaa Rita said water and sanitation is a big issue in Nigeria that requires collective effort to be addressed. She said ministry is willing to work with its sister ministry and other stakeholders to come up with a robust WASH policy in the interest of the nation.

‘‘Over the years we have been having issues but the two ministries recently came together and had an agreement that if we continue to work in silos, Nigerian citizens will suffer issue of water and sanitation is a big issue in Nigeria.

‘‘We have sat down and agreed to work together for the sake of the nation and that why this process started since last year. It was agreed that the committee will be chaired by the two ministries. For us in the Environment, we are committed to this process; we will do everything required of us to make sure this policy see the light of the day. Every stakeholder should work collaboratively to achieve a common goal.’’

On the area of collaboration, she said, ‘‘we will collaborate on sanitation because the federal ministry of environment is the institutional home of sanitation in the country and here we are talking about water, sanitation and hygiene. Our goal is to implement the policy at the end of the day for the good of all Nigerians.’’

In his remarks, the Head of Advocacy, policy and communication, WaterAid, Kolawole Bawo, said the meeting was a confirmation of the seriousness of the committee members to hand over an all-inclusive and robust WASH policy that would address water and sanitation needs of Nigeria.

‘‘The committee has agreed on timeline to proceed on the process. Hopefully there will be expression of interest advertised for consultant that will do the work. This is our second meeting; that we are able meet again means that even though we lost momentum since April, we are beginning to pick up again. We have decided to work together, even though, there may be disagreements, we have resolves to resolve our differences and then go ahead to ensure we get this much policy for Nigeria.’’

According to him, the policy will allow the government to plan WASH better and invest in the right places to meet the needs of the right people. ‘‘It also allow everybody to plan together, when you do not plan together, all of you will be wasting money, it is better you put the money in the right places so there is efficiency, effectiveness and maximum impact.’’

On her part, WASH Specialist at Unicef, Ogochukwu Chisom Adimorah, described the proposed policy as a dream come true and charged the committee members to synergise in order to give the country an implantable and solid policy that would meet the need of the people.

‘he said, ‘’This is a very critical process. We need a WASH policy in this sector, once in how many years?

I applaud all these stakeholders for coming together to develop this policy. It is going to be a serious affairs. It needs support and commitment of every stakeholder. Without a solid policy document, the sector will be working in silos. We need to bring all these frameworks, guidelines and strategies together under one framework that will guide every stakeholder and all our plans.

‘‘We are very behind in terms of our schedule to meet the SDG No 6 to support water and sanitation. We believe this policy is going to help us fast-track the entire process, both for government partners and others.

‘‘On our part, UNICEF is going to support technically and ensure the policy is robust and implantable. It is also going to ensure that document is budgeted to, it is not something that is going to be kept in the shelves.’’

Recall that the Minister of Environment inaugurated the inter-ministerial committee in April 2023 for development of National; Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Policy on behalf of his Water Resources counterpart.

Members of the Committee were drawn from the ministries, agencies and parastals that are incident on WASH and the development partners and a draft terms of reference was given to the members to work with.
The committee is expected to develop a draft on the proposed policy and send same to a steering committee that would harmonise it and forward it to Federal Executive Council for final approval.