WaterAid Nigeria Launches Third Phase of Scale-up-Hygiene Project in Bauchi, Enugu, Oyo

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

WaterAid Nigeria with support from the Heineken Africa Foundation has launched the third phase of nine months ‘Scale-up-Hygiene’ project to be implemented in three states of Bauchi, Enugu and Oyo.

The Programme Monitoring, Evaluation and Report Officer of WaterAid Nigeria, Masheke Mallo, while giving an overview of the project at the launching held in Bauchi yesterday, said the project would build on the achievements of the first and second phases to strengthen governance structures for sustainable management of WASH service delivery, increase access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene services as well as support the control of the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

According to him, the objective of the phase three of the project is to deepen hygiene promotion to control the spread of COVID-19 in the targeted states, ensure the sustainability of existing hand-washing facilities in selected public locations and institutions in the target states and advocate for technical support to improve WASH governance for sustainable WASH services.

He said during the third phase, WaterAid would deepen it’s partnerships with the governments of Bauchi, Enugu and Oyo States; Ministries of Water Resources; Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agencies; Civil Society Organisations, and the media, adding that WaterAid will also work with the Ministries of Health and Primary Health Care Development Agencies to tackle the spread of COVID-19 in healthcare settings.

Masheke said under the project, WaterAid is targeting to reach 9,375 people with hand-washing facilities, 5 million people with hygiene messages via mass media and 15,000 people through the community-based campaigns in the three states of Bauchi Enugu and Oyo.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria, Evelyn Mere, said a total of 26 million people have been empowered with context-specific hygiene behaviour change promotion packages of tools and insights that were designed to help them protect themselves from COVID-19 across the country, adding that the empowerment was done under the funding by Heineken Africa Foundation Scale-up-Hygiene Phase I and II implemented by WaterAid in collaboration with the government and civil society partners.

Mere, who was represented by the Programme Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer in Bauchi, Meshack Mallo, said during the phase 1 and 2 of the project, it installed 270 non-contact and inclusive hand-washing facilities in health centres, schools and public places just as hygiene packs were distributed to marginalised communities to help curb the spread of waterborne diseases.

Also speaking, the acting General Manager of Bauchi RUWASSA, Ibrahim Yusuf, commended WaterAid Nigeria and Heineken Africa Foundation for the projects implemented in the first and second phases, saying the state has really benefited immensely.