By Adeyinka Adeniran
As a way of promoting the culture of hygiene in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Oyo State, Heineken Africa Foundation, HAF, has extended its partnership with WaterAid Nigeria to begin the second phase of the Scale-Up Hygiene for a duration of 10 months.
The project was initially launched by WaterAid Nigeria last year as parts of its COVID-19 response intervention in helping vulnerable communities protect themselves against the spread of the disease.
The launch of the second phase was held at the Western Hall of the Parliamentary Building, House of Assembly Complex, Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan on Monday, with representatives from government, non-governmental organisations, and partners among other stakeholders in attendance.
Speaking at launch, the Corporate Affairs Manager, West/Midwest, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr Danjuma John-Ekele, said the second phase of the project will focus on consolidating on the wins of the first phase and ramping up existing hygiene promotion interventions and campaigns to increase access to improved hygiene.
John-Ekele added that the measure will also reduce the spread of the virus and support national and sub-national governments to integrate water, sanitation and hygiene in their COVID-19 response and vaccination strategy.
In a remark, the Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria, Evelyn Mere said, “With emerging new variants of the coronavirus, thousands of people are exposed to the risk of contracting the disease.
“Whilst the world has urgently risen to the challenge of COVID-19 by introducing vaccine administration, every year, hundreds of thousands of lives are silently lost because of lack of clean water, decent toilets and hygiene.
“There is no doubt that urgent actions to sustain access to water, sanitation and hygiene are needed as a long-term strategy to fighting against disease spread and warding off future pandemics.
“With the major achievements recorded from the first phase of the project, we are expectant for better water, sanitation and hygiene access. Having these basic human rights in place helps to stop infectious disease in its tracks and helps vulnerable communities build back better from economic downturns inflicted by the pandemic.
“The government must respond now to providing infrastructure that sustains water, sanitation and hygiene at all levels, especially, given its vital role in preventing disease spread and ensuring pandemic preparedness against future disease outbreaks.”
Giving a review of the first phase of the effort, Mere said the first phase was successful in reaching and equipping 21 million residents in Bauchi, Benue, Ekiti, Enugu, Kaduna and Oyo states and in the FCT with context-specific hygiene information, encouraging the practice of good hygiene, using different promotional cues and touch points, including national, state and community TV and radio stations.
The Country lead, Living Word Mission, LIWOM, Mr Marcus Williams, who also doubles as the representative of WaterAid to implement the project in Oyo State, said that WaterAid will, through the project, empower communities with context-specific hygiene behaviour change promotion tools, insights and materials designed to help them protect themselves from infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
He assured that the project will increase access to non-contact and inclusive handwashing facilities in key strategic locations and deepen advocacy strategies to key government stakeholders to prioritise, integrate md sustain water, sanitation and hygiene access.
He added that the efforts will serve as key preventive method for fighting against disease spread and ensure preparedness against future pandemics.
Also speaking, the Director, Sanitations, Oyo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, RUWASSA, said the second phase was approved due to a satisfactory implementation of the first phase in the state.
She said, “The project is called HAF/WaterAid Nigeria/Oyo RUWASSA/LIWOM project, it consists of production of hand washing facilities, a scale up hygiene project on COVID-19 response and production of hand washing facilities, and we have the permanent hand washing facilities, the inclusive permanent hand washing facilities and we have the semi-permanent hand washing facilities.
“The difference between the permanent and the inclusive handwashing facilities is the consideration of the disabled people. It is a two-way point of handwashing. It is a little bit lower so that people that who cannot walk can also use it.
“Also, there is the production of handwashing soap, there’s production of nose mask and production of radio and television jingle messages.
“The difference between the first phase and this second phase is that, during the execution of the first phase, we had a success of establishment of Water and Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, in all the local governments across the state.
“In this second phase, WaterAid is going to help Oyo State to strengthen WASH activities in all the local government areas, so there will be production of WASH policies in the state, which will be presented and defended in the state Assembly and will be used as a policy in the state.”
