eWASH

“Access to WASH’’ stakeholders’ forum, holds on Thursday, May 23, 2013 Seminar Room, First floor, Archbishop Vinning Memorial Anglican Church, Opposite Police College, Ikeja, Lagos

Professor Dapo Longe

Professor Ezechiel Oladapo Longe of the University of Lagos has been elected Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP/WA).

Dapo Longe is a Professor of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Lagos. He replaces Professor Lekan Oyebande, an emeritus professor of the same university.

Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission (NIWRMC), an agency under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has been  elected into the Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP/WA) Steering Committee.

These are some of the key decisions of the Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP/WA) Assembly of Partners meeting held in Accra, Ghana last week.

The meeting attended by representatives of Country Water Partnerships (CWP) in the region deliberated on the 2016 – 2019 Strategy documents and the GWP / WA 2014 – 2016 Work Plan, ongoing initiatives in the region (Water climate and Development Project, Mekrou, Drought Management, Ground Water), presentation of the 2012 progress and financial reports, and presentation of the 2013 Work plan and budget.

The GWP was founded in 1996 by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) to foster integrated water resource management (IWRM).

GWP West Africa has been working together with the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) to promote IWRM in the region and help countries and stakeholders operationalise its principles through broad and active partnerships. ECOWAS recently adopted a regional water policy which aims at contributing to poverty reduction and sustainable development, and which now needs to be internalised at national level for effective implementation.

The GWP is contributing to that process through its 12 Country Water Partnerships created as multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral neutral platforms for dialogue supporting national policy development.

New Executives of the WASH-JN

The West African Water and Sanitation Journalists Network (WASH-JN) have elected new members for its Coordinating Committee. 

At the end of a three day Annual General Meeting in Dakar, Senegal, last week, the WASH-JN elected, Alain Tossounon from Benin as Coordinator, and Edmund Smith-Asante of Ghana as Secretary; replacing Racine Kane and Babatope Babalobi of Senegal and Nigeria who had held the respective positions over the past two years.

The WASH-JN reduced the membership of its Coordinating Committee from seven to five, and also elected Ms. Aminatagbe Sangare from Guinea as Treasurer, Ousmana ELH Ibrahim Dambadji from Niger as Fundraising and Partnership officer, and Paule Kadja Traoré from Senegal as Information and Communications Officer.

West African Water and Sanitation Journalists Network (WASH-JN) is a regional coalition of 14 National Water and Sanitation Journalists Network and its activities are supported by the WaterAid in West Africa, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council and Water Integrity Network.

“The voices of the people are often missing when decisions concerning water and sanitation are taken by political leaders,  the voices of the people as amplified by Journalists is so important, we must tell their stories, and that is what we expect water and sanitation Journalists to do”

Dave Trouba, Communication officer, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council at a three day meeting of West Africa Water and Sanitation Journalists in Dakar, Senegal this morning.

“The water and sanitation crisis is so big that we need to go beyond policy advocacy to bring in the support of Journalists for media advocacy.

We need to hear the voices of the poor, we need strong citizens that demand the rights of the people and call duty bearers to provide the rights of the people. Journalists are best suited to ensure this.

It is unacceptable that children are dying because of lack of access of drinking water, it is unacceptable in the 21st century that women are bearing the burden of fetching water, wasting time they could have spent on other productive activities because of lack of water.”

Mariam Dem, Head of Region, WaterAid in West Africa Region at the opening of a three day meeting of West African Water and Sanitation Journalists www.wash-jn.net in Dakar, Senegal this morning.

The Third bi-Annual General Meeting of the West Africa Water and Sanitation Journalists (WASH-JN) holds in Senegal, April 8-10, 2013.

About twenty eight Journalists reporting water supply and sanitation issues for Radio, Television, Newspapers and online media in 14 West Africa Countries will be attending the meeting organized with the support of WaterAid in West Africa and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)

The meeting will deliberate on in country activities of Institutional members of the WASH-JN-  the national Water and Sanitation Media Networks, progress reports on grant projects implemented by the member countries, as well as election of new officers  for the regional WASH media network.

Participating Journalists will also use the opportunity to some slum communities in Senegal to report on state of access to water supply and sanitation services.

Health experts representing government, multilateral and bilateral organizations, civil society, youth and the private sector will soon meet in Lagos to address the unique needs of children living with Cerebral Palsy in Nigeria.

Children living with Cerebral Pals like other disabled, require special water supply and sanitation needs and the  meeting, which is scheduled to hold from April 11-12, 2013, is expected to come up with an action plan to strengthen the system of health care delivery for such special children and adolescents in the country.

Some of those expected at the Roundtable include Professor I. J. Ihenacho, Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Jos, Dr. Saad Tajudeen, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Kaduna Polytechnic, Mrs Josephine Nwabueze, Department of Special Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr. Ikani Egaga, Department of Special Education, University of Calabar, Mrs Olasimbo Oyekoya, Department of Physiotherapy, Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, Mrs Grace A Ademola – Sokoya, Department of Speech Pathology, Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos and Mr Akinola Olabisi, Centre for Learning Disabilities and Audiology, Abuja

In a statement released Friday, the founder of Benola: A cerebral Palsy Initiative, AVM Femi Gbadebo said the organization is facilitating the “Roundtable” to help improve the lot of special children and their families.

“We want to identify those geographical areas with limited medical resources and perceived unmet needs. Thereafter, we plan to use the information to provide guidance for new service programmes and also establish an agenda for action”.

The Coordinating Committee of the  Rural Water and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) was launched in Tunis, Tunisia last week.

RWSSI is a continental framework for resource mobilisation, investment, and development of rural water supply and sanitation in Africa; while the Coordinating Committee for the RWSSI is expected to facilitate improved coordination and sector learning among partners  and stakeholders towards the achievement of RWSSI’s goals and targets.

Below are photos from the launch:

Some of the participants at the meeting

Participants at the meeting

Samuel Ome, Director, Water quality control and Sanitation/Chairman National Task Group on Sanitation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Nigeria discussing with Mr Sering Jallow, Director Water and Sanitation, AfDB

Group photograph of African Water and Sanitation experts that attended the meeting

Mr Sering Jallow, Director Water and Sanitation Department, African Development Bank (AfDB), (left); Hon Christian Herbert, Deputy Minister for Rural Development and Community Services, Liberia and Mr Bai Mass Tall, Executive Secretary of African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW)

Hon Christian Herbert, Deputy Minister for Rural Development and Community Services, Liberia (left) and Mr Bai Mass Tall, Executive Secretary of African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW)

Join  Twitter Conference  pn   ‘Access to safe water and sanitation in Nigeria’ to mark World Water Day today, March 22.

Use the #washnigeria   hasstag to conversation and share your experiences and solutions on access to  safe drinking water and sanitation services in #Nigeria  throughout the day. Also post short stories on how  you are making the World Water Day in your communities.

Follow @nigeria_news        https://twitter.com/nigeria_news

The Twitter conference on ‘Access to Water and Sanitation in Nigeria’ is organized by ewash/Bread of Life Development Foundation http://assemblyonline.info  Email: blfnigeria@yahoo.com

By Babatope Babalobi  

  babalobi@yahoo.com

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines sanitation as a group of methods to collect human excreta and urine as well as community wastewaters in a hygienic way, where human health and community health is not altered.

Of the 2.6 billion people or 39 per cent of the world’s population live without access to improved sanitation, the vast majority live in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 45 per cent of the population use either shared or unimproved facilities, and an estimated 25 per cent practise open defecation.

Only four countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal target on sanitation-the four sub-Saharan countries are Rwanda, South, Africa, Angola and Uganda.

There are several methods of ensuring safe sanitation either at domestic or community levels, but generally, sanitation methods are generally aimed at decreasing the spread of diseases through provision of adequate waste water, excreta and other waste treatment, proper handling of water and food and by restricting the occurrence of causes of diseases.

An improved sanitation facility is one that hygienically separates human excreta from human contact, and is defined by World Health Organization/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation to include Flush toilet, Connection to a piped sewer system, Connection to a septic system, Flush / pour-flush to a pit pit latrine, Ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine, and Composting toilet.

Ecological Sanitation (ECOSAN) is one of the new modern methods of sanitation, and it is based on the following principles:

It aims to decrease contamination of the environment caused by human excretion and prevention of disease deriving from excreta.    Human urine and faeces are considered as a resource, not as a waste.

It promotes the recovery of nutrients from excreta and utilization of the end product as fertilizer and soil enrichment.

It promotes in situ (on site) or close by, treatment of the excreta.

It encourages utilization of water in the transportation of excreta

  It promotes the use of decentralised waste treatment methods and services.

The highpoint of ECOSAN technique is that it is not water based. Whereas, the shortage of water to flush human excreta often causes sanitation problems, ecological sanitation with dry toilet technology does not merely decrease health problems caused by excreta but also digs into the fundamentals of the problem as the contamination of water resources decreases and water is saved for other purposes such as food preparing and hygiene.

Urine Diversion Dry Toilets (UDDT) is the main type of ECOSAN toilets and the common feature is that latrine waste and sometimes organic food is composited and the end product can be used as fertilizer and soil enrichment material. Urine Diversion Dry Toilets (UDDT) are usually built on top of the ground and therefore can be utilised in regions to where ground waters are closed to surface water.  Dry toilets could also useful when the ground is hard or in other ways difficult to dig.

The Global Dry Toilet Association of Finland  http://drytoilet.org/  is one of the leading groups promoting the importance and raising awareness on ecological sanitation. The body organises the international Dry Toilet conference every three years, since 2003 bringing together experts from all over the world to discuss researches and field experiences in using ECOSAN techniques. The 4^th Dry Toilet Conference was held in Tampere, Finland; and previous conferences had been held at the same location in 2003, 2006, and 2009.

The Book of Abstracts of the 2012 Dry Toilet Conference, recently published, contains several studies on successes, challenges, and failures on the application and usage of Dry Toilets in various parts of the world.

For instance, a study conducted by the ‘Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Built Environment Unit South Africa’, shows that the introduction of Dry Toilets in the Hull street Medium Density Mixed Housing (MDMH) Project in Kumberley South Africa in 2010 was a failure.

The study conducted by Gertrade Matsebe and Dr Amipa Osman revealed a high level of dissatisfaction of the users of UDD toilets mainly due to poor design that out weighted the benefits. Most of the users reported that the Urine Diversion Dry Toilets (UDDT)  were unhygienic, unhealthy, had an uncomfortable sitting position, released unpleasant odours, and had high operation and maintenance costs. Furthermore, the UDD technology lacked institutional support from politicians and officials at the local municipality, who eventually decided to convert it into water borne system. This dissatisfaction has led to the rejection of UDDT technology.

In Malawi where the centre for Centre Community Organisation and Development (CCEODE), Non Governmental Organisation has constructed more than 200 Dry Toilets for the Malawi Homeless Peoples Federation (MHPH), there has been mixed results.

Another study on the experience of Ecology Sanitation in Malawi conducted by Tabbie Kayanage of the CCODE shows that: ‘The main negative results is the cultural orientation that handling human waste is a taboo, but the majority of the users are satisfied with the simplicity of the dry toilet as it has a urinal for men, a bathroom attached to it, and it is convenient as its constructed near the house compared to the pit latrine which is constructed far to avoid odour. In addition, it is convenient for children as then don’t have fear of falling in the pit latrines’

In Ethiopia, Ecological Sanitation Ethiopia (in 2006) introduced UDDT to Arba Minch, a town with a population of 110, 113. Arba Minch’s topography is characterised by loose soil, sloppy ground, flooding during rainy season and in some places rocky ground. Findings of a study on the ‘Experiences of urine Diverting Dry Toilets (UDDT)’ in Arba Minch, Ethiopia shows that the low demand for the co-compost produced from UDDT products from the fifty six constructed toilets, is the main challenge for the slow acceptance and sustainability of the Sanitation technique.

The study conducted by Kinfe Ayamo and Beshah Behailis of the Arba Munich University Ethiopia shows that incomes streams from the sale of the co-compost is inadequate which weakens the market chain and discourages construction of new UDDT in the town.

In spite of these in these challenges of ECOSAN toilets, Professor Sridhar K.C Mynedalli of the Niger Delta University Nigeria believes there is a room for the adoption and usage of ECOSAN toilets in an coastal communities where inadequate collection and disposal of faecal sludge has become a major source of ground and surface water pollution with significant environmental, public health, social and economic impacts.

According to him, ECOSAN toilets is suitable for areas characterised by poor sanitary practices, low level of technology, adoption weary rainfall with floods, high water table, and the sea level above the region’s landscape.

Sridkar Mynepali in the study co-authored with Elizabeth Oloruntoba, Bolanle Wahab, and Glory Richard recommended the promotion of dry or composting toilets together with the option of converting faecal sludge into biogas and compost in  coastal cities around the world.

References  

1. Dry Toilet conferences, 2012 Book of Abstracts.
2. Urine Diverting Toilets in climates with cold winters women in Europe for a common future.
3. A guide to Sanitation and Hygiene in developing countries. Produced by the global Dry Toilet Association of Finland