MDGs: UNICEF, FG Partners To Meet Water, Sanitation Target

UNICEF says it is collaborating with the Federal Government, NGOs and donor agencies to ensure the attainment of the water and sanitation MDG target of 65 per cent.

The UNICEF Water and Sanitation Specialist, Mr Bisi Agberemi, said this in an interview with our  source recently  on Wednesday in Abuja.

Agberemi said that UNICEF was also in collaboration with the National Task Group on Sanitation to institute a coordination mechanism to collate their inputs in order to develop capacity.

The National Task Group on sanitation comprises ministries, agencies, and departments working on sanitation and hygiene.

“The responsibility of meeting the target is not a matter of one single stakeholder; it is a collective responsibility.

“For Nigeria, the MDG target has been set at 65 per cent and from UNICEF perspective, efforts are being made to support governments at all levels to ensure that we achieve this target.

“And we can still achieve it; but what we have been doing basically is to support the area of capacity building, to create critical mass of people that can go out there and intervene in sanitation delivery towards achieving the target,’’ he said.

Agberemi said that UNICEF was also supporting an innovative initiative of mobilising communities to eliminate open defecation through the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach.

According to him, the heart of CLTS lies in the recognition that merely providing toilets does not guarantee their use, nor result in improved sanitation and hygiene.

He explained that CLTS focuses on behaviour change needed to ensure real and sustainable improvements.

“CLTS triggers the community’s desire for change, propels them into action and encourages innovation, mutual support and appropriate local solutions, thus leading to greater ownership and sustainability.”

Agberemi said that CLTS had proved to be the best approach to help in achieving the MDG target, adding: “if all the stakeholders should come on board with CLTS, we can achieve our aim.”

UNICEF, he said, was also collaborating with the Environmental Health Officers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) in building capacity for CLTS.

EHORECON is a regulatory body regulating environmental health Officers profession.

“If we can build the capacity of all registred environmental health officers in Nigeria, they would further support the scaling up of CLTS, he said.