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| Some participants during the hand over ceremony of 30 rehabilitated and new water facilities in two LGAs, Lagos, recently. |
•Hands Over 30 Water Facilities In Two Lagos LGAs
Chioma Umeha
To reduce high incidence of diarrhoea among
children under five years, Save The Children International has handed over 30
rehabilitated and newly constructed water facilities to two Local Government
Areas in Lagos, under its Stop Diarrhoea Initiative (SDI).
At the handover ceremony to both Shomolu Local
Government Area (LGA) and Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos
recently, Save The Children said the aim is to reduce at least 50 per cent
diarrhoea incidence among children under five years.
Mr. Godfrey Iloha, the WASH Advisor of The Stop
Diarrhoea Intitiative (SDI) explained that it is part of the SDI’s Water
Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) implementation strategy to deliver community wide
sanitation in Shomolu LGA, and ultimately increase access to improved
sanitation.
Iloha also said that the project was designed
mainly to stop early death of children under the age of five and reduce
childhood illnesses in Shomolu.
He said, “We found out that in Shomolu that there
are children with diarrhoea and that is why we decided to bring this project to
Shomolu LGA and Bariga LCDA.
“This project is a joint project that is, we work
with the Lagos state government and other level of government to increase
access in a many of these rural areas that has little or no access to clean
water.”
According to him, the activities were conducted in
coordination with the leadership of Somolu Local Government Area, Bariga Local
Council Development Area and the various community structures.
These include, Community Development Associations
(CDAs), Community Development Committee (CDC) and the Water Sanitation and
Hygiene Committee (WASHCOM), he added.
This was done to enhance ownership and
sustainability of the SDI project. Upon the completion of the project, these
facilities are now ready for hand over to the communities with trained
technical committee members from the communities who will be responsible for
their maintenance, Iloha further explained.
“The provision of improved access to quality, safe
water for children and the citizens is intricately linked to Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) six which draws attention on the need to “ensure
availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
The SDI is a four-year project implemented by Save
the Children in collaboration with the Lagos State Government. This project is
aimed at reducing at least 50 per cent diarrhoea incidence among under
five-year-old children in Shomolu LGA and Bariga LCDA.
The project seeks to demonstrate the efficacy of
the World Health Organisation and WHO/UNICEF recommended seven-point plan for
diarrhoea prevention among under five -year-old.
Access to quality water supply, improved
sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are critical elements of the Seven-point plan.
As part of Save The Children’s strategic objective
to reduce childhood diarrhoea disease in the communities, 30 water points
equipped with treatment plants and solar panels were rehabilitated and
constructed in the project communities to support uninterrupted quality water
supply in Shomolu LGA and Bariga LCDA.
This effort is meant to serve as a model for scale
up by the government and elected representatives as a collective effort to
improve the quality and access to water available to the community. The essence
is to reduce vulnerability to diarrhoea infection.
Collaborating with the WASH Advisor, David
Atemewalen of the Save The Children Initiative said this project is aimed at
removing diarrhoea in the Shomolu community and to achieve this project, “it
took us almost a year because we needed the participation, involvement and
ownership of the community.
“This effort is quite remarkable for Lagos State,
Shomolu LGA and the Save the Children Initiative as the water facilities are
equipped with treatment facilities and solar panels to ensure uninterrupted
quality water to households.”
Save the Children therefore called upon the
government at all levels to replicate and sustain this remarkable effort by
using the model water facilities as minimum standard from the SDI to improve
access to quality and safe water in the rural areas across the country.
