Environment
Children Have Rights To Sanitation, Quality Education – WaterAid
The WaterAid Nigera says children all over the world have a right to sanitation, good health and quality education.
Dr ChiChi Aniagolu-Okoye, the Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria said this in an interview with newsmen last Wednesday in Abuja.
“Wherever they are in the world, children are entitled to the human rights of sanitation, good health and quality education.
”Through the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), world leaders have promised to deliver these rights for everyone everywhere by the year 2030 but at the current rates of progress, these promises will be broken with many countries way off track.
”One in three schools around the world do not currently have decent toilets, while one in five primary schools and one in eight secondary schools don’t have any toilet at all.’’
Aniagolu-Okoye said that about 620 million of the world’s school children do not have decent toilets.
“For these young people, it is normal to run home to relieve themselves or use bushes on the school ground despite safe toilets being the human right for everyone everywhere.
“Lasting and meaningful progress towards any of the UN SDG’s of health, education, women’s rights and equality will not be achieved without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
”Therefore urgent action is needed now to improve the service of the 34 per cent of schools worldwide with no adequate toilets for pupils, to bring decent household toilets to 2.3 billion people still waiting and to make this an everyday thing for everyone.’’
She said that governments must prioritise delivering sanitation to all, investing in the essential services and establishing credible plans for achieving universal access within an agreed time frame.
”Government should champion change through better planning and a more integrated approach between the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) education and health sectors.
“More money should be properly invested and there should be improved transparency in monitoring and reporting because a school without basic access to water, decent toilets and good hygiene should not be called a school.
”Education and finance ministers in every country as well as donors must recognise the fundamental importance of water, sanitation and hygiene in schools in improving education.”
She said that school sanitation must meet the specific needs of girls to ensure privacy, safety and dignity.
“Toilets should be in appropriate locations with good lighting, solid doors and locks to avoid children fallen victims to rapist and kidnappers.
”Female children should be taught about menstruation and given what they need to care for themselves properly during their periods including clean water and soap.’’
Aniagolu-Okoye, however, said that school sanitation must be inclusive enabling children with disabilities to use clean, safe, accessible toilets.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.