From WILLIE ATTAH, Gombe
Stakeholders led by traditional rulers in some Northeast communities of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states have pledged to sustain a five year UNICEF sponsored project in their communities which improved their lives in the area of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
This was the resolution reached during the Programme Endline Validation and Local Investment Plan Development Meeting held for the affected states in Gombe.
The beficiaries include: Guyuk and Jada LGAs of Adamawa State, Biu and Meigumeri LGAs of Borno State as well as Fune and Geidam LGAs of Yobe State where improvements were witnessed in the areas of health, nutrition, and wellbeing of poor and
vulnerable people in the targeted rural communities.
The project, particularly made positive impact on women and girls, just as it contributed to the positive reduction in ‘Children on the move’ outbreak of cholera diseases during the five year period of the project implementation (2019 – 2023).
According to Emir of Jajere, Yobe State, the project is a success because they were able to reach all the targeted areas intended.
“I commend UNICEF for this wonderful intervention and the states and Federal Government for paying their counterpart funding so that our people will benefit,” the emir stated.
During the five year programme, 997,000 people in the target LGAs were provided with safe drinking water, 880,000 people stopped defecating in the open and are now using a safe and hygienic toilet facility, and a total of 500 new water facilities were constructed while 1,000 broken down facilities were rehabilitated, UNICEF stated.
