WaterAid Nigeria urges emergency in water, sanitation

As the world marks the 2018 World Water Day, WaterAid Nigeria has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the water and sanitation sector.
It added that a presidential taskforce be set up and empowered to deliver on providing water and sanitation for Nigerians The Country Director, Dr. ChiChi Aniagolu-Okoye, in a statement yesterday said Nigeria should learn from pilot projects being implemented in similar contexts in countries like Kenya and conduct critical programmatic, social economic assessments of such through pilot replications with government support and leveraged finance.
According to her, there must be a shift in mindsets and implementation approaches to integrate the principles of nature based solutions in all water-related projects; the development of enabling frameworks for such solutions and the integration of local solutions in all sector interventions.
“There must be recognition that the UN Global Goals are everyone’s responsibility to deliver, to ensure no one is left behind.
Everyone is accountable if they fail.
Actors should leverage on sector capacity improvement mechanisms such as the National Water Resources Institute to improve capacity across the sector and in allied sectors and cascade down knowledge to communities.
”Mobilising resources from taxes, tariff s and transfers, and increasing the amount and proportion of aid for water, sanitation and hygiene, to close the gaps in financing.
This also means supporting institutions to ensure they are accountable and well-governed, so that money is well-spent, and promoting pro-poor policies that ensure access to water for everyone,” she said She said commemorating World Water Day every year is about focusing attention on the importance of water.
“This year’s theme, ‘Nature for Water’, explores nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century.
“We urge our leaders to take real action as without water and sanitation, none of the other Global Goals – for alleviating poverty, improving health and creating a fairer and more sustainable world – will be achievable.
All solutions to the water crisis will demand multi-sectorial coordination and the inclusive participation