ABUJA (Water Ministry’ Report)- The Federal Government through the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu, has called on critical stakeholders especially the Development Partners to key into the Partnership for Expanded Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) Protocol in order to address the many challenges facing Nigeria’s quest to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals on Water and Sanitation.
The Minister made this call on Tuesday June 20, 2017 during an interactive session with Development Partners on PEWASH in Abuja.
It would be recalled that PEWASH was launched on Monday November 7, 2016 by the Vice President of Nigeria to synergize efforts by the Federal Government, State Governments and Development Partners geared towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals target 6.1 and 6.2, specifically for water and sanitation in rural areas by 2030.
Adamu stated that budgetary allocations by the Federal Government alone would not address the challenges of Water and Sanitation in the country. He therefore called on the Development Partners to support the PEWASH initiative.
On the part of the State Government, the minister informed that twelve State Governors of Kano, Ogun, katsina, Abia, Gombe, Adamawa, Imo, Nasarawa, Delta, Niger, Cross River and Ebonyi responded and signed the PEWASH Protocol.
“The first two states; kano and Ogun have been selected to kick start the programme and the Federal Government counterpart fund has been approved in the signed 2017 Appropriation Act to commence the programme.”
According to the Ag. Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Musa Ibrahim, PEWASH is not to take over the activities and programmes of the Development Partners, but rather to coordinate and complement the on-going projects and programmes by all stakeholders in the rural WASH sub-sector in the country.
He thanked the Development Partners for their support and cordial working relationship in the Water Sector over the years.
Responding on behalf of the Development Partners, the Chief of WASH, UNICEF Abuja, Zaid Jurji commended the Federal Government for the PEWASH initiative. He said that the Development Partners were committed to meeting the SGDs targets by adopting and signing up the PEWASH Protocol. He added that the various partners in the Group have developed their strategic action plans and PEWASH is adequately captured.
