UNICEF Sounds Alarm on Open Defecation in Borno State, Urges Swift Action Ahead of World Toilet Day
By Tada Jutha, Maiduguri
Ahead of this year’s World Toilet Day (WTD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that 47 percent of the people still defecate in the open in Borno state.
According to the Fund, inaccessibility to basic toilets risks nearly everyone to cholera and other waterborne diseases that claimed many lives.
UNUCEF’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Manager, Mamita Thakkar, raised the alarm yesterday in Maiduguri to mark 2024 World Toilet Day.
“Open defecation does not only harm people’s health but also reduces productivity and school attendance of pupils and students,” she said, adding that it also affects the overall quality of life.
The 2021 WASH NORM report also indicated that only 53 percent of the people in the state use basic toilets in their residences.
She, therefore, warned that the sanitation and hygiene gap encroaches into communal life and extends to schools, public institutions, markets, and health facilities.
Thakkar noted that World Toilet Day is a reminder that sanitation is still an unfinished agenda, warning that ‘Progress towards universal sanitation is alarmingly off track.
Additionally, she said the inadequacies in WASH included the uneven gaps between countries to eliminate the inequalities to toilets in ensuring that the most vulnerable are reached.
“With six years left to the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the window for action is rapidly closing.” She declared, warning that lack of sanitation has a profound impact on public health, productivity, environmental sustainability, and the educational attainment of women and girls.
Thakkar also lamented the disproportionately affected girls and women by the poor sanitation conditions in their communities.
Commending the state government on open defecation, the WASH manager said: “It has taken concrete steps in addressing open defecation through what she described as “proper policy decisions and actions.”
She noted that it was remarkable that the state government is launching a road map tomorrow (Tuesday) with the raising of a ministerial steering committee on WASH.
Meanwhile, two local government areas of Biu and Kwaya/Kusar have already been declared by UNICEF as an Open Defecation Free (ODF) among the 27 local councils in the state.
“The momentum needs to be sustained, with efforts under the ODF campaign to make the remaining area councils free of defecations in Borno.
She urged the state government to focus on speed, scale, equity, and sustainability to achieve ODF by 2030.
