WHO, UNICEF task FG to improve country’s water system

By Bisola Adeyemo

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), on Saturday has tasked the Federal government on Investment in water, sanitation and hygiene.

In a report, the organisations noted some progress towards achieving universal access to basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.

The report also harped on the need for governments to ensure adequate support for safely managed on-site sanitation, including faecal sludge management.

The report made it clear that if current trends persist, billions of children and families would be left without critical, life-saving WASH services, stating that by 2030: Only 81 per cent of the world’s population would have access to safe drinking water at home, with 1.6 billion deprived of this essential commodity.

On her part, UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, noted: “Even before the pandemic, millions of children and families were suffering without clean water, safe sanitation and a place to wash their hands.

“Despite our impressive progress to date to scale up these life-saving services, the alarming and growing needs continue to outstrip our ability to respond. The time has come to dramatically accelerate our efforts to provide every child and family with the most basic needs for their health and well-being, including fighting off infectious diseases like COVID-19,” she added.

Both global agencies, in a joint monitoring programme (JMP) report titled “Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000 – 2020”, presented estimates on household access to potable water, sanitation and hygiene services over the past five years, along with progress towards achieving the sixth sustainable development goal (SDG 6), to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.”