WaterAid Launches Project to Improve Access to Sustainable Water Sanitation and Hygiene services in the Peri Urban area of Lagos State

Posted by
Zainab Mukhtar
on
29 August 2024
Group picture with some people standing and others sitting
Image: WaterAid
29 August 2024; Lagos, Nigeria:

 

WaterAid Nigeria with support from Microsoft Inc. is rolling out a new project to improve access to sustainable Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in Lagos State. 

The intervention titled Lagos Peri-urban Water and Sanitation Improvement Project will be implemented through increasing access to water supply and sanitation services and strengthening mechanisms that promote community preparedness for water-related shocks and stresses that arise from the effects of climate change.

The three-year project is set to reach over 21,000 (21,475) people with access to sustainable, resilient, and affordable Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in Ikorodu North LCDA. 

Lagos State is among the most populous cities in Africa, with an estimated population of 22 million people*. However, like many other cities in sub-Saharan Africa, it struggles to manage rapid population growth and urban development, including providing access to essential services like Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH).

According to the 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASHNORM) Survey, 45% of people in Lagos lack access to safely managed water, 75% lack access to safely managed sanitation and 65% do not have access to hygiene services while 34% drink water contaminated with E. coli*.

In recent years, as the climate crisis has become more severe, there has also been a major surge in the number of cholera outbreaks across the world including Lagos State. Findings from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Cholera Situation Report Monthly Epidemiological Report 15 Epi week 32: (5 August 2024 – 11 August 2024) show that Lagos accounted for 63% (3,758 cases) of all suspected cases in the country of the 36 States that have reported cases. 

Disease outbreaks such as this continue to highlight the importance of access to adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services and more so, that the provision of WASH infrastructures is climate resilient. Lack of access to WASH and insufficient measures to address the effects of climate change are intertwined – they cannot be solved separately and must be addressed through multi-stakeholders’ engagement.
 

WaterAid in collaboration with the government and Civil Society Organizations will be implementing this project with emphasis on rehabilitation of non-functional water and handwashing facilities, upgrade of sanitation facilities to be gender inclusive; one that addresses the needs of women/girls and persons with disabilities, and promotion of good hygiene that supports healthy living. 
 

The project will leverage our ongoing Clean Family Campaign in the state to promote and improve targeted hygiene behaviours in communities to improve health outcomes and curb the spread of infectious diseases by establishing/strengthening Environmental Health Clubs (EHCs) in schools and instituting Volunteer Hygiene Promoters (VHPs) who will become champions of hygiene behaviour change.  

Evelyn Mere, Country Director of WaterAid Nigeria, said:

“WaterAid reiterates its committed partnership with Lagos State and all relevant stakeholders. We look forward to the successful implementation of the project and the sustainability of the rehabilitated facilities. We hope that the government at both levels will adopt these models for upscaling and replication across the evolving megacity of Lagos until everyone, everywhere has access to sustainable WASH services.”

/ENDS

For more information, please contact:  

Zainab Mukhtar, WaterAid Nigeria Communications Officer,

[email protected], +234 707 115 8421

Notes to Editors:

WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 27 million people with clean water and 27 million people with decent toilets. 

For more information, visit www.wateraid.org, www.wateraid.org/nigeria; follow @WaterAidNigeria, @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid, 

* In Nigeria:

  • Only 10% of the population has access to basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
  • 68 million people (33% of the population) lack access to basic drinking water services.
  • 113 million people (55% of the population) lack decent toilets.
  • 48 million people (23% of the population) practice open defecation.
  • 171 million people (83% of the population) lack basic handwashing facilities.
  • Only 11% of schools have access to basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
  • Only 6% of healthcare facilities have access to basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
  • Only 4% of parks and markets have access to basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services.

* 2021 WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH NORM)
*Lagos State Bureau of Statistics, Lagos State estimate, 2014
*https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/ncdc-cholera-situation-report-monthly epidemiological-report-15-epi-week-32-5-august-2024-11-august-2024 
*WHO (2023). Burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2019 update. Geneva. Available at: who.int/publications/i/item/97892 40075610 (accessed 24 Jul 2023). 

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