The Chairman of the State Task Group on WASH revealed that Obubra has suffered neglect from the state government and international organisations, hence, the need for the planned intervention.
By TheInvestigator
The Cross River state government is preparing to begin implementing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) measures to tackle the high waterborne diseases in Obubra local government. This was disclosed by the Chairman of the State Task Group on WASH (STG-WASH) and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Engr Okon Ita at a four-day capacity improvement workshop for the newly-inaugurated STG-WASH held in Ikom, 19th – 22nd of February 2025.
This is part of a system-strengthening project being implemented in collaboration with the Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN) and Self Help Africa (SHA), with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) WASH Systems for Health (WS4H) programme.
The Chairman of the State Task Group on WASH revealed that Obubra has suffered neglect from the state government and international organisations, hence, the need for the planned intervention.
He said, “We discovered that a lot of waterborne diseases have been ravaging Obubra for so long and it’s a place that we need to go in and see how we can turn the whole place around. Obubra has suffered neglect from government and international organizations.”
Engr Ita further asserted that “Self Help Africa is experimenting with Yala LGA while the State has committed to work in Obubra LGA.” He further stated, “Yala is like a pilot scheme for SHA and has been an ODF community for a long while. They came in to strengthen Yala to see how that could build the institution to make it more robust and effective.”
The capacity improvement workshop is a result of an assessment conducted to identify the strengths, gaps, and overall capacity needs of its members during the STG-WASH maiden meeting in December 2024.
In his keynote address, Self Help Africa’s Head of WASH, Mr Shadrach Guusu disclosed that they were implementing the programme in Kano and Cross River States.
He maintained that the programme was necessitated by the fact that many donors are moving away from service provision to build capacity and strengthen the system for sustainability. This was after a review of all their programmes in the past years across the country discovered that about 50 per cent of all WASH facilities provided were no longer functioning.
The National Coordinator of the Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN), Mr Attah Benson called for all hands to be on deck to achieve the set goals. “I commend our partners. This is a different approach that should not be wasted, wastage goes on in this country,” he said.
He revealed that WASH is a lucrative sector because it has a viable business dimension urging the State Task Group on WASH members to be resilient.
The sessions will be facilitated by resource persons from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, as well as technical experts from SHA and NEWSAN. By the end of the workshop, it is expected that the capacity of the participants on effective WASH coordination and implementation will be significantly improved, thereby contributing to an even stronger WASH system in Cross River state.
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