‘47 per cent of Borno residents defecate in the open’
*Association moves to end menace in FCT by 2025
As the 2024 World Toilet Day (WTD) is observed today, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that about 47 per cent of residents still defecate in the open in Borno State.
According to the global agency, inaccessibility to basic toilets exposes nearly everyone to cholera and other water-borne diseases that claim several lives.
UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Manager, Mamita Thakkar, raised the alarm, yesterday, in Maiduguri to celebrate the global event.
“Open defecation does not only harm people’s health but reduces productivity and school attendance of pupils and students,” she said, adding that it also affects the overall quality of life.
The 2021 WASH NORM report also indicated that only 53 per cent of the people use basic toilets in their residences. She, therefore, warned that the sanitation and hygiene gap encroaches into communal life, and extends to schools, public institutions, markets and health facilities.
Thakkar noted that WTD is a reminder that sanitation is still an unfinished agenda, warning: “Progress towards universal sanitation is alarmingly off track.”
She added that the inadequacies in WASH included the uneven gaps between countries to eliminate inequalities of toilets to ensure that the most vulnerable are reached.
“With six years left to the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the window for action is rapidly closing,” the UNICEF chief declared, warning that lack of sanitation poses a profound impact on public health, productivity, environmental sustainability, and educational attainment of women and girls.
Commending the state government on open defecation, the UNICEF chief submitted: “It has taken concrete steps in addressing open defecation through proper policy decisions and actions.”
She noted that it was remarkable that the Borno government is launching a road map today via the raising of a ministerial steering committee on WASH. Two council areas, Biu and Kwaya/Kusar, have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) among the 27 local councils by UNICEF. The WASH manager urged the state government to focus on speed, scale, equity and sustainability to achieve ODF by 2030.
RELATEDLY, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Public Convenience Maintenance Association (PCMA) has sought more collaboration with stakeholders to end open defecation by 2025 in the nation’s capital in line with Executive Order 009 signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The association stressed the need to prioritise the construction of clean water and accessible toilet facilities in communities, schools and public places within the territory.
PCMA’s Secretary General, Usman Umar, who made the call in a statement yesterday, reiterated the association’s zeal to promote the use of toilets and good hygiene practices in every part of the six Area Councils of the FCT.
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