According to UNICEF Nigeria, Nigeria has made substantial progress in developing policies and strategies for water supply and sanitation service delivery, but faces major challenges in translating these into action.
According to Federal Ministry of Water Resources, provision of water supply to communities increased by 64.1% in 2016 but water quality is highly compromised during transportation from source to point of use. As a result, only 22.1% of the population have access to safe drinking water. Safe drinking water is difficult to attain without proper sanitation. 47 million people practice open defecation (OD). Out of 774 local governments, only 3 have been certified open defecation free (ODF). The amount of human waste being washed into water bodies is high creating an enabling environment for pathogens. This results in high incidence of waterborne illnesses found in these areas.
Every year, an estimated 124,000 children under the age of 5 die because of diarrhea, mainly due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. Lack of adequate water and sanitation are also major causes of other diseases, including respiratory infection and under-nutrition.
With the rising conflict caused primarily by Boko Haram in the North East, nearly 1.4 million children are at imminent risk of death this year. There are about 1.4 million men, women and children living in Internally Displaced Peoples camps in Borno State alone that lack safe drinking water. There is an ongoing cholera outbreak that has not been eliminated and there are huge cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea that are being reported every day due to lack of safe drinking water.
Recent extreme flooding event that took place in Nigeria in 2018 resulting from heavy rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, left over 18,000 men, women and children displaced from their homes and living in the camps in Anambra state alone exacerbating the need for safe drinking water.
The Safe Drinking Water Project provides an avenue for individuals and organizations wanting to assist a poor Nigerian school, village, orphanage, Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp, health centres etc. with access to safe and clean drinking water free of pathogenic micro-organisms that cause waterborne diseases. EnvironFocus in partnership with interested individuals, NGOs, Charities and Businesses are working to provide Nigerian Communities with safe drinking water by providing them with LifeStraw, Sanitation and Hygiene workshops. Pictures of project activities can be seen here.
Interested in finding out more about the Project? Give us a call at 18664631104 (Canada) +234 8179752330 (Nigeria) or send an email to info@environfocus.com.