UNICEF tasks media on bringing access to water to front-burner of public discourse

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), on Tuesday, tasked the media to bring access to water and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes to the front-burner of public discourse.

UNICEF, officially known as United Nations Children’s Fund, urged the media to give voice to millions of voiceless children in Nigeria as they struggle to get their rights to potable drinking water, WASH programmes, quality healthcare, education and safety.

Mrs Juliet Chiluwe, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Enugu, made the appeal during the media briefing on 2023 World Water Day Celebration in Enugu.

According to Chiluwe, access to safe drinking water requires more investment in building a water system.

She said that time had come for potable and hygienic water to reticulate well to homes, schools and public places to reduce the stress of children getting accessible water and finding time to meet with other child developmental/educational needs.

She said: “We (UNICEF) are working with the state government and other partners to ensure availability of water.

“If we continue at the pace we are going, it will take 16 years in Nigeria to achieve access to safe water.

“We cannot wait that long, hence the need to increase investment in water, sanitation and hygiene services”.

Chiluwe said that water-related diseases endanger the lives of 78 million children in Nigeria, noting that “some of the problems of some children not enrolling in schools are traceable to water unavailability and inaccessibility”.

The chief of field office noted that availability of water would help protect children’s health, especially from water-borne diseases and poor hygiene-related diseases.

“These children do not have availability of water in their communities as we all know water affects the growth of children.

“We call on all stakeholders to be more involving in making water available because only one person does not have capacity to do it so all hands must be on deck to salvage the situation,” she said.

Speaking, Mr Doutimiye Kiakubu, the WASH Specialist, UNICEF Field Office, Enugu, said the commemoration of World Water Day was to create awareness about the importance of water to life.

Kiakubu said: “Water is important to health centres, education, nutrition, urban infrastructure and everything about development.

“Availability of water for consumption is very low so we must always advocate for equitable and just distribution of water resources.

“Water must be available when you need it and must be free from all kinds of chemicals,” he said.

He challenged journalists to do more research on access and availability of potable water in the country.

“Journalists should support UNICEF and millions of Nigerian children by following up on budgetary allocation to water in various states as well as internationally funded water projects from donor agencies,” he added.