WaterAid Nigeria plans to reach not fewer than 2.7m people with hygiene behaviour change promotion messages to curb the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases threatening the public in Bauchi state.
The disclosure was made by the Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Resource Officer of the Organization, Mashat Mallo at the launch of the third phase of the scale-up hygiene project being implemented by WaterAid in partnership with Heineken Africa Foundation (HAF).
According to him, “The project objectives is to influence communities and the public to adopt key hygiene behaviours that will help curb the spread of infectious diseases like Covid-19 through the installation of contactless and inclusive hand washing facilities in strategic locations.
“As well as influence government stakeholders to prioritize WASH access as part of a sustained and effective integrated approach for dealing with the pandemic.
Mashat Mallo also said that during the first and second phases of the project, WaterAid installed 65 inclusive permanent hand washing facilities in health centres, schools and public places with some distributed to marginalized communities to help curb the spread of the disease.
He disclosed further that under the 9-month phase 3 project which would be implemented through the mass media and community-based campaigns, five additional Hand Washing facilities would also be installed in strategic locations.
He, therefore, urged the State Rural Water Supply Agency (RUWASSA) to leverage existing community structures for the sustainability of the project.
While responding, the acting General Manager of RUWASSA, Engr. Ibrahim Yusuf hailed WaterAid Nigeria for its community-driven strategy which has helped his agency to achieve success in the current campaign for hygiene behaviour change in the state particularly in the rural communities.
Earlier, the Spokesperson of people with special needs, Malama Asmau Yahaya expressed gratitude to HAF and WaterAid for according special consideration to members in the construction of the disability-friendly handwashing facilities.
She assured that ” we will continue to encourage our members to adopt hand washing at critical times as a permanent habit”.
In his remarks, Magaji Barde of the Women Development Association for self-sustainance (WODAS), the implementing NGO, pledged his organization’s readiness to engage other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to promote rapid hygiene behaviour change in the state.
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