FG INITIATES 23-MAN COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL WASH POLICY
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By Sefiu Ajape
The Federal Government, on Monday, inaugurated a 23-man technical sub-committee on sanitation and hygiene in an effort to bring together the disparate policies into a comprehensive document that will address every facet of water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in Nigeria.
Dr. Nicolas Madu, Director of Water Supply and Support Services, Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, stated that the Ministers of Environment and Water Resources and Sanitation’s combined wisdom led to the formation of a technical committee for policy review and development, which in turn spurred the decision to create a comprehensive national wash policy.
As the national chairman of the WASH policy development committee, Madu said that it is now critical to treat sanitation and hygiene on an equal footing with water supply. He continued by saying that the sub-committee would have ample time and resources to thoroughly discuss matters and offer the main committee well-informed advice.
The subcommittee members, he said, are seasoned professionals and bureaucrats chosen from professional organizations, states, and MDAs, whose depth of experience, wisdom, and knowledge will benefit the main committee.
“The subcommittee comprises 42 members from various government ministries, civil societies, and donor agencies. This diverse composition aims to ensure that the perspectives of all stakeholders in the WASH domain are considered in the development of policy documents.
“We have drawn people from the regular government ministries, from civil societies, from donor agencies, and we have these 42, we have ensured that everybody requires to be on the seat on the table discussing WASH is reflected in that committee. The reason is that we want any documents so developed to aggregate all the aspirations of participants or stakeholders in the WASH family.
“The idea of this committee is to develop one very well-thought out policy document that will aggregate all the shades of WASH so we can have everything under one umbrella.”
On its part, WaterAid Nigeria calls for urgent action on WASH for national development. Also, WaterAid highlights the vital role that water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) play in Nigeria’s development, through its Head of Advocacy, Policy, and Communications, Kolawole Banwo.
Speaking about the financial impact of water, Banwo stated that in the absence of adequate WASH infrastructure, disease rates would rise, more children would become ill, and financial resources would be diverted from preventive care to curative treatment. He added by citing the prevention of diseases such as COVID-19 and Ebola, stating that the significance of WASH for public health cannot be overstated.
In his speech, he discussed the importance of having a sub-committee devoted to WASH and the necessity of taking sanitation and hygiene issues into account in addition to water supply guarantees. He emphasized some of the unique issues, like the requirement for facilities that can accommodate individuals with disabilities and toilets made specifically for women’s menstrual hygiene.
Elizabeth Ugo, a director in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation and member of the sub-committee, guaranteed the main committee her complete support.
The ministers of health, the environment, agriculture and rural development, transportation, works, housing, humanitarian affairs and disaster management, as well as academia makes up the sub-committee.
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