By Aisha Mohammed.
In a strategic effort to declare Adamawa State Open Defecation Free, the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF, in partnership with the Adamawa State Government, is implementing the Accelerated Sanitation and Water for All Phase 3 ASWA 3 Project, with funding from the Government of the Netherlands through the Community-Led Total Sanitation CLTS approach.
The Community-Led Total Sanitation CLTS approach seeks to empower and instill behavioral change in community members by mobilizing them to raise awareness about the public health risks of open defecation.
Community members in Ganye Local Government Area of Adamawa State Chairlady of WASHCOMM, Rukaiya Idris; WASH Community Leader, Donatus Dona, both of St. Francis SUGU Four and the Ward Head of SUGU One, Abdullahi Hayatu expressed appreciation to UNICEF and the Adamawa State Government for constituting a community-led committee to accelerate efforts in attaining Open Defecation Free status.
They said the project has improved their livelihood, as more toilets have been constructed.
However, they decried the lack of potable water in the community, which is a major tool for sustaining the gains of the project in meeting their WASH needs, and called on the government to come to their aid.
The community members pledged to take ownership of the project to ensure Ganye Local Government Area attains Open Defecation Free status.
Commending the level of compliance displayed by the community members, WASH Coordinator in Ganye, Gankuba Jared, said the members were trained and sensitized on how to construct durable toilets to accelerate efforts in achieving the desired results in the campaign against open defecation.
The Head of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene WASH, who is also the Desk Officer for the ASWA 3 Project, Aisha Yusuf, said the project is currently ongoing in 300 communities across the two pilot Local Government Areas Ganye and Sheleng — and confirmed its implementation.
Yusuf added that the CLTS approach is designed to help change people’s behavior by mobilizing communities and conducting a series of capacity building training sessions for officials and community representatives to raise awareness about the public health risks of open defecation.
The Chief of UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Nuzhat Rafique, expressed hope that the Adamawa State Government will adopt the ASWA 3 Project approach currently being carried out in the two pilot LGAs and replicate it in other Local Government Areas to help the state attain Open Defecation Free status.
Ganye and Sheleng Local Government Areas in Adamawa are expected to be declared and certified Open Defecation Free at the end of the ongoing Community-Led Total Sanitation activities.
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