The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Field Officer in Bauchi State, Mr. Bhanu Pathak, has said no fewer than 1,500 communities have become Open Defecation Free (ODF), through the provision of access to basic sanitation facilities in four local governments, namely Dass, Warji, Bogoro and Ganawa.
Pathak, speaking in Jos, Plateau State, during the Bauchi State Sanitation, Hygiene and Water Project in Nigeria (SHAWN II exit meeting), hailed the Bauchi State Government for its continued commitment to the improvement of lives of the people, especially the support to the realisation of the rights of women and children and also for its prompt payment of counterpart fund for the SHAWN II project.
He said the project is being implemented in 12 local governments out of the 20 councils, adding that the state deserved commendation for providing 100 new hand pump boreholes, 65 solar motorised boreholes and 30 blocks of pour flush latrines.
“Over the years, SHAWN II has strategically invested in institutional and community capacity and systems building, systems and protocols, including expanded guidelines for WASHCOMs, guidelines for contacts management, harmonisation procurement guidelines, among others,” Pathak said.
He added that the roll out of SHAWN II exit strategy with focus on sustainability and withdrawal by December is being carried out in two ways, which are phasing down of SHAWN II interventions and phasing over of SHAWN II interventions. Commissioner for Rural Development Jidauna Tula Mbami, represented by a director in the ministry, Mr. Nathaniel Muazu, enjoined the participants to endeavour to usher in a new era and solution to the problem of poor sanitation and hygiene “ravaging our localities.”
He praised the efforts of the RUWASSA and its team for leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that all laid down rules and procedures set by the donor partners are followed.
The commissioner urged the participants to maintain the tempo, “because this is the only sure way posterity will judge us right and we will be vindicated by exhibiting the usual acts of commitment to our duties, honesty, sincerity, transparency and accountability in the service to our state.”
