The Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria, Dr Evelyn Mere
WaterAid Nigeria, an NGO, has called for improved public, private sector investment to enhance access to quality Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services at the grassroots.
The Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria, Dr Evelyn Mere, made the call in a statement by Oluseyi Abdulmalik, Communications and Media Manager of the organisation, on Sunday in Bauchi.
The WASH is a programme supported by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
It seeks to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-6 ) for universal, affordable and sustainable access to WASH.
Mere said the organisation emphaised the need for governments, donor agencies and businesses to prioritise investment on WASH facilities in most vulnerable communities.
This, she said, could be achieved by making investment on WASH central to the COVID-19 response, pandemic preparedness and green recovery plans.
“Investment in WASH is mission critical not only to ending this pandemic and preventing the next, but to bouncing back economically by unlocking trillions of dollars of value for the global economy, ” she said.
Mere said that water and sanitation has been sidelined for too long and its value overlooked, thus trapping millions into poverty.
She said that studies indicated that WASH is extremely cost-effective investment.
According to her, it is impossible to quantify the impacts of poor water supply and sanitation on livelihoods, health, child development, productivity, education, gender and security.
She said with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging across the world, the need for quality WASH services has never been more important.
The statement also quoted Caroline Vexler, Senior Economist, as saying that the global benefit cost analysis demonstrated that investing in WASH was a triple win.
Vexler said that such investment could unlock billions in economic opportunities and health savings at relatively low cost.
“It can address key objectives of stimulus spending on post COVID -19 and build resilience to increasing global risks,” she said. (NAN)