By YANGE IKYAA
The minister of water resources, Suleiman Adamu, has said that the introduction of schoolWASH programme for federal educational institutions in the country is a deliberate act to develop a joint initiative with the federal ministry of education in order to improve access to WASH services in Nigeria’s educational institutions.
Adamu stated this in Abuja on Tuesday, while signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the federal ministry of education on the SchoolWash Programme.
Speaking at the event, the Nigerian minister said that “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) are crosscutting issues that impact on different sectors, including education, health, as well as economy, among others, under the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, targets 6.1 and 6.2, which are the WASH targets that seek to achieve universal and equitable access to safely managed drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services for all.”
He also added that access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene is fundamental to the health and well-being of students and staff members and is a prerequisite for quality education.
Speaking further, Adamu said, we believe that this partnership will go a long way, and that the water resources ministry is also working with the federal ministry of health and the federal ministry of youth and sports development to roll out similar WASH programmes that targeted at healthcare facilities and the youth respectively.
In his own words, “we are commited to building more partnerships and collaborations within and across sectors to ensure that the deliberate and sustained attention required to meet the SDG targets by 2030 are in place. The contribution and commitment of everyone, viz government at all levels, civil society, private sector, development partners, traditional and religious institutions, and the entire populace is critical in this regard.”
The minister further informed that this MoU details the obligation of the parties, the framework for programme coordination and delivery, as well as for financing, monitoring and evaluation.
According to him, “my ministry has already made the needed budgetary provision for the take-off of the SchoolWASH programme in its 2023 budget appropriation and we are confident that we will make appreciable progress in achieving universal WASH coverage in our schools by the year 2030.”
Similarly, the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, expressed his delight in collaborating with the federal ministry of water resources on this critical issue of improving WASH facilities and services in federal government-owned educational institutions.
He reiterated that the water resources minister’s achievements in the WASH sector and in the campaign to end open defecation in the country have been in the hugely commendable.
On his part, the minister of education, agreed that the partnership is a timely one which will enhance the overall health and well-being of students and staff members in Nigerian schools, reduce the spread of waterborne diseases, and promote good hygiene practices.
Earlier, the permanent secretary in the federal ministry of education, had welcomed the delegation and also urged that all hands must be on deck to ensure the success of the programme.
