#WASHStories – Nigeria’s No. 1 Blog for Media Stories in the WASH Sector celebrates #WorldToiletDay #WorldToiletDay2020 #November19 #Sanitation #Hygiene #LeaveNoOneBehind #WASHStories

 

#WASHStories – Nigeria’s No. 1 Blog for Media Stories in the WASH Sector celebrates #WorldToiletDay

#WorldToiletDay2020

#November19

#Sanitation

#Hygiene

#LeaveNoOneBehind

#WASHStories

WSSCC formally transforms into the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund

 

By Aondosoo Labe | @WASHStories |

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) has formally evolved into the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF).

In an online launch event on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 – which was moderated by international broadcaster Ms Zeinab Badawi, and is available on the SHF website and its YouTube channel; global leaders welcomed the fund as key to increasing investment in sanitation and hygiene to solve the growing needs of the sector in the 21st Century – and “to deliver at the scale required to achieve sanitation and hygiene leaving no one behind,” official communications stated.

The SHF is a dedicated global fund large enough to invest in government-led programmes for real impact. It was also revealed that the Fund will be critical to scale up investments to reach everyone with sanitation services.

Key speakers during the launch included Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General; Dominic O’Neill, Executive Director of the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund; Nigeria’s Vice President ,Yemi Osinbajo; Ms Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF; Ms. Grete Faremo, Executive Director of United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Ms Grete Faremo, Executive Director of UNOPS; Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization; and Mr. Gilbert Houngbo, Chair of UN-Water and President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The speakers unanimously stressed the need for a dedicated global sanitation and hygiene fund especially now as the Coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for sanitation and hygiene in stopping the spread of diseases.

The online event also included interventions by Ms Petronila Musonye of Kenya Water for Health Organization and Ms Abenmire Adi, Gender Rights and Sanitation Advocate for Cross River State, Nigeria, speaking on behalf of civil society. 

WASH Stories also understands that the Fund supports investments in the following four strategic priority areas:

• Scaling-up household sanitation and hygiene services

• Addressing Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) gaps while promoting empowerment of women and girls

• Increasing sustainable water, sanitation, hygiene and MHH services in schools and health care facilities

• Supporting innovation towards safely managed sanitation, hygiene and MHH.

Investments will be designed to strengthen climate resilience.

 https://unsdg.un.org/announcements/global-leaders-welcome-sanitation-and-hygiene-fund-key-increasing-investment

Jaba LGA becomes Open Defecation Free

 

By Aondosoo Labe | @WASHStories |

Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State has been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). This was communicated in a letter dated October 30, 2020, from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

In the letter addressed to the General Manager, Kaduna State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency; it was stated that the declaration was made following due consideration of the report of the validation exercise carried out by the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS) from 7th to 17th October 2020, in Jaba Local Government Area of the state – which was earlier validated by UNICEF to have attained UNICEF ODF status.

As the first ODF local government area in the state, successes recorded in Jaba are part of steps taken by the Kaduna State Government to achieve state-wide ODF status – which culminated in the declaration of a state of emergency on water and sanitation in July this year.

It was also recommended in the validation letter that ODF celebration should be held on November 19, which is World Toilet Day.