The Federal Ministry of Water Resources is currently developing a strategic plan for the coordination and tracking of the implementation of SDG-6 in Nigeria.
Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, MCIPM, (mni) Permanent Secretary stated this Tuesday, 17th January 2023 in her remarks during the 29th regular meeting of the National Council on Water Resources (NCWR) held at the International Conference Center in Kasarawa of Sokoto State.
She said this informed the believe that water is central to national development and the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development especially Sustainable Development Goal 6 which sets out to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all in Nigeria by the year 2023.
She also stated that Sustainable Development Goals 6 is critical to the achievement of all other Sustainable Development Goals because it has strong linkage to health, sanitation, education, agriculture, rural development, tourism, transportation and indeed the environment.
Walson-Jack also said it has direct and rapid impact on poverty eradication and employment generation as it underscores the high priority this administration of President Buhari accords to the provision of adequate water supply, improved sanitation and irrigated agriculture for improvement of the living standards of the citizenry.
The Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Water Resources said due to these reasons, the theme for this year’s council meeting is “Actualizing Sustainable Development Goals 6: prospects and challenges.”
Furthermore, she said that the theme was carefully chosen, bearing in mind that the nation is just seven (7) years away from the target year set for achieving the SDG6.
She explained that in this regard, the council should review the strategies particularly in the area of implementation of projects and programmes, identify gaps and proffer solutions on the way forward to overcoming the challenges while urging them to align the discussions and memoranda towards addressing core issues of the theme.
Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, MCIPM, stated that specifically, the plan is to provide guidance and sustainable pathway for various stakeholders in the water sector to monitor the level of implementation of SDG6, across the eight (8) hydrological areas of the country.
She also revealed that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources recently conducted the Voluntary National Review on the implementation of SDG6 with a view to showcasing the status of its implementation in the country.
The PS explained that the two strategic documents are therefore the outcomes of the wide and in-depth consultations undertaken by the ministry, in order to ensure that SDG6 is mainstreamed and integrated into the various policies and plans in the sector.
She reiterated that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has implemented a number of laudable initiatives, projects and programmes focusing on ensuring sustainable management of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Nigerians.
She also said that identified initiatives, projects and programmes include but not limited to Declaration of a “State of Emergency” and the overarching launch of the WASH National Action Plan aimed at ensuring universal access to sustainable and safely managed WASH services by 2030.
These she said, includes Partnership for Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) designed to serve as an effective platform for the coordination and management of public water supply and sanitation facilities in the country, especially ensuring increased access to safe water supply, adequate sanitation and hygiene in the rural areas.
Sustainable Rural and Urban Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) programme which is a loan facility amounting to U$700 million from the World Bank to support the implementation of the WASH National Action Plan will go a long way in this direction, she added.
The objective of the programme is to improve the urban, small town and rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene as well as to strengthen sector institutions in participating states of Nigeria, the Perm Sec averred.
She also stated that the launch of Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign as well as signing of the Executive Order by Mr. President to end open defecation in Nigeria by the year 2025 remains a value-added project.
The PS explained that rivers and open bodies monitoring activities for improving the qualities of Nigeria’s rivers and open bodies in accordance with SDGs target 6.3.2 aimed at achieving 100% proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality in Nigeria by 2030 remains a task that must be done.
WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH-NORM) was carried out by the ministry in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and UNICEF as the aim of the WASHNORM is for generation of the real time data for monitoring progress towards the attainment of the SDGs, target 6.1 and 6.2.7.
