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

  By  

Babatope Babalobi  who was in Tunis         babalobi@yahoo.com

 Special Report

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)

In the year 2012, the United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization announced cheering news that the world has achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water, three years  in advance of the 2015 MDG deadline.

Titled: Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2012, the report says 89% of the world’s population, or 6.1 billion people, used improved drinking water sources, at the end of 2010. This was one per cent more than the 88% MDG target.

The report was received with excitement globally, but people living in most parts of Africa, received it with mixed reactions as the report did not reflect the reality on the ground. The report itself admitted the fact that global coverage figures mask massive disparities between regions and countries, and within countries.

The truth is that Africa still has the lowest total water supply coverage of any region in the world. Currently about 300 million people in Africa do not have access to safe water and about 313 million have no access to sanitation. Only 61% of the people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to improved water supply sources compared with 90% or more in Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern Africa, and large parts of Asia. Over 40% of all people globally who lack access to drinking water live in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to figures provided by Sering Jallow, Director Water and Sanitation Department& African Water Facility, AfDB, as of 2010, 47.6% of Africans had access to water supply, and 27.9% had access to improved sanitation, but these figures are far below the MDG targets of 70% for water supply, and 62% for sanitation. Only about 16 countries in Africa are on target to meet the MDGs for water while less than 10 are likely to meet the sanitation targets necessitating the need to develop new initiatives to accelerate access.

At the current pace, an African Development Bank (AfDB) study calculated that most sub Saharan African countries will meet access-to-water target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) only in 2040, and the access-to sanitation target in 2076.

Apart from massive disparities among continents and countries, there are also massive disparities within countries, with most rural areas having the lowest access figures compared to urban areas; yet, most African, about 62% live in rural areas. Access to services is estimated to be 47% for water supply and 44% for sanitation. In view of the low access to WSS services in rural areas, rural populations are burdened to a greater extent by preventable water and sanitation related diseases, suffer great deprivation of women and children from embarking on productive economic activities due to time and efforts used to fetch water. The deprivation also results in low enrolment rate in education. These problems contribute to accentuate poverty in the rural areas.

Challenges of Rural Water supply and Sanitation in Africa

The challenges facing Rural Water supply and Sanitation (RWSS) services in Africa include the following:

1.  Inadequate investment for sustainable service delivery and access.
2.   Poor policy and institutional framework to foster effective and efficient implementation and management of RWSS services.
3.  Lack of human capacity to establish community-managed RWSS services as well as engineering and drilling/construction capacity to deliver WSS facilities.
4.   Inefficient management of Operation and Management of water supply and sanitation services as many facilities have fallen into disrepair due to lack of spare parts and maintenance.
5.  All these scenarios are worsened by water resources variability and scarcity (droughts, population pressure, and environmental degradation) in some countries.

Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) 

The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) is one of the donor led efforts to accelerate access to water and sanitation in Africa and it aims at attaining 66% access to water supply and sanitation by the year 2010,  80% by 2015, and full access by 2025. The African Development Bank Group conceived the RWSSI in 2002 within the framework of the Bank Group’s strategic plan (2003 –2007) and in response to the Africa Water Vision and the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Launched in 2003 by AfDB, it was then adopted by African governments and international development partners as the common Framework for resource mobilization and investment at the First International Conference on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation in Africa, held in Paris in April 2005.

The Initiative has received backing from the international community including the G8 Summit at Evian, the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure and the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW) as well as several bilateral donors.

Thus, RWSSI is a joint programme coordinated by the AFDB at the continental level, but financed by many donors, other partners and Regional Member Countries (RMCs)

The overall objective of the RWSSI is to provide access to sustainable water supply and sanitation services to 271 and 295 million people in rural Africa, respectively, to reach the target of 80 percent coverage by 2015.

By its estimates, a total of approximately 270 million rural people will need to be provided with access to improved water supply and about 300 million to sanitation in order to meet the 2015 RWSSI target of 80% access to water supply and sanitation.

This objective of achieving 80% access in 2015 and universal access by 2025 may become a pipe dream as there is a large gap between current financial flows and financial requirements to meet the goals for 2015 and 2025. Annual flows would need to be significantly increased by up to US$1.2 billion to meet the targets. An estimated USD 14.2 bn required to provide water to 271M people and sanitation facilities for 295M people; while the total financial resources required to achieve the 2015 RWSSI targets were estimated at USD14.8 billion.

Other challenges identified in the course of implementing the RWSSI programme include the following:

1. Entrenching decentralisation: Though many African countries have embarked on the process of devolving responsibilities for water and sanitation services to local authorities, in most cases, decentralization has only been on paper with little practical manifestation. More importantly, there is a need to increase financial flows and transfer authority to local level structures.
2. Improving supply chains: Existing supply chains managed by governments are weak and most RWSS programs have not incorporated the establishment of privately-driven supply chains. Communities are exposed to very weak supply chains and post-construction support.
3. Low sanitation coverage: According to the JMP 2010 report, only 6 countries in Africa are likely to meet the sanitation MDG target. Without further political and financial commitment from Governments and development partners, the sanitation situation might actually retrogress on the continent. In most countries the management of sanitation is fragmented and there is no designated budget and institutional home for sanitation provision.
4. Conflicting financing mechanisms for sanitation: The majority of the RWSS programs finance only community mobilization and training in hygiene education and construction of public sanitation facilities. There is a need for policy guidance on the financing of household sanitation facilities.
5. Improving Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) frameworks: Despite financial support through a number of RWSS programs for the establishment of M&E systems, most countries are unable to provide reliable data for sector planning and information management.
6. Weak knowledge dissemination: Best practices and experience from use of innovative technologies are not efficiently shared across the region due to lack of knowledge and information dissemination mechanisms, and thus the benefits of innovative approaches and experiences are often lost.

A study by the African Development Bank (AfDB) concludes on country experiences indicates that increased efficiency in the water and sanitation sector would only be achieved if the following elements are put in place:

1. Improved sector coordination, with assignment of clear responsibility to one ministry accountable for progress in the achievement of water and sanitation targets;
2.  Increased integration between policy making, planning, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation;
3. Increased focus on capacity building, especially at the local level, and for all stages of water and sanitation projects – from planning to procurement, to execution, monitoring and maintenance;
4. Promotion of linkages among stakeholders, including government bodies and donors, and civil society organizations.
5.   Adoption of well-designed water utility reforms are substantially improving access to services and making progress in financial capacity to sustain and expand the services.

The RWSSI hopes to accelerate access to sustainable RWSS in Africa through:

1. Awareness raising;
2.  Beneficiary participation;
3. Adoption of fast track mechanisms;
4. Using demand driven programmatic approaches;
5.  Raising the profile of sanitation;
6.  Emphasis on capacity building; and
7. Mobilization of more funds from governments, communities, NGOs and donors.

The RWSSI prides itself as the only continental  initiative focusing on RWSS services at such large scale; and as of Dec. 2012, the initiative had implemented  37 programmes in 26 countries, providing water supply and sanitation access to 45 million and 30 million people (2011 values), respectively.

Launch of RWSSI Coordinating Committee in Tunis

From the foregoing discussions two key factors are strategic for up scaling and sustaining the delivery of water and sanitation services in rural Africa- they are adequate financing and effective coordination.

1. Financing: With an estimated additional USD 8.1 billion required, there is need to attract much improved levels of financing into the sector; and
2.  Coordination at continental level: Is a need to develop more inclusive governance with greater involvement and effective participation of key stakeholders to jointly support and achieve the financing, implementation and reporting requirements of the initiative to deliver better results on the ground.

Group photographs of about African 150 Water and Sanitation experts that attended the meeting

The process of improving financing and coordination of RWWS activities at the continental level received a major boost, recently when major stakeholders gathered in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, March 26 and 27, 2013 to brainstorm the operational modalities of a Coordinating committee as a platform that will facilitate improved coordination and sector learning among partners and stakeholders towards the achievement of the RWSSI’s goals and targets.

The specific objectives of the meeting are:

1. Appraise stakeholders on RWSSI progress, achievements, challenges and plans leading to 2015. This will also include a discussion on some of the key issues affecting sector progress (sector monitoring and performance reporting; sub-sector financing; sustainability; sector coordination) and how Africa should address them;
2.  Share country and field experiences in co-ordination to inform the way forward for RWSSI;  
3.  Obtain partner and stakeholder inputs towards identifying opportunities and addressing co-ordination challenges to achieve Africa’s rural water supply and sanitation targets
4.  Define the process of establishing of a Coordinating Committee for RWSSI, review the draft terms of reference and membership of the RCC, and propose undertakings for the first year (including modalities for their achievement); and,
5. Launch the Coordinating committee.

The meeting in Tunis was attended by officials from the AfDB, African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), the World Bank, UNICEF, WaterAid as well as water and sanitation Journalists networks. It lasted for three days, divided into five sessions, during which participants discussed issues related to the establishment of the Coordinating committee for the RWSSI.

The opening session on ‘Progress and plans of the RWSSI’ was addressed by Mr. Gilbert Mbeshrubusa, AfDB Vice President, Operations III – Infrastructure; Mr. Francois Kruger, Executive Director, AfDB; Mr. Bai Mass Taal, AMCOW’S Executive Secretary; Hon. Christian G. Herbert, Deputy Minister for Rural Development and community Services, Liberia; and Mr. Sering Jallow, AfDB Director Water and Sanitation Department.

During the second session, Mr. Bai Mass Taal mounted the podium again to introduce the essence of the proposed RWSSI Coordinating committee.

The third session focused on how national coordination of RWSS could be strengthened at country levels. One of the speakers- Bethlehem Mengistu, Regional Advocacy Manager of WaterAid in East Africa, who shared experiences on ‘Sector Coordination and  Performance Monitoring’ in Malawi. According to Mengistu, the effects of poor coordination of RWSS at country levels include the following:

1.      Duplication of efforts and investments

2.      Un sustainability of WASH services

3.      Poor WASH sector accountability

4.      Lack of ownership of initiatives/investment

5.      Corruption in WASH Sector

6.      Marginalization (no participation, equity and inclusion in WASH service provision

7.      And consequently right to water and sanitation not realized!

Megistu explained how WaterAid in East Africa is promoting better sectoral coordination of RWSS at country levels using its interventions in Malawi as a case study:

“In Malawi, WaterAid is supporting decentralized structures, and so far a total of 10 local government areas have been supported to develop District Strategic Investment Plans (DSIPs) which provides direction to planning, implementation, and monitoring of water and sanitation programmes, while about 12 districts are currently being supported by UNICEF to do the same”.

She, however, admitted that this best practice is not without its challenges: “due to lack of devolution, DSIPs struggle to mobilize resources to implement plans, although the Local Development Fund was introduced as a mechanism for supporting projects, tiny amounts are available for water and sanitation on a competitive basis”, said Megistu.

Other initiatives supported by WaterAid to promote better sectoral coordination in Malawi include

1.      Establishment and strengthening of civil society Networks capable of influencing the design, implementation and evaluation of effective WASH policies at all levels

2.      Strengthening sector performance monitoring including data reconciliation/harmonization with international standards and Water Point Mapping

3.      Supporting budget advocacy and tracking

4.      Engagement with Parliamentarians to champion increased sector financing in WASH.

In the fourth session, participants were distributed to workgroups that extensively discussed the functions, structure, and 2013 work plan of the proposed Coordinating committee.

The first work group assessed how to effectively monitor, evaluate, and report RWSS programmes in Africa and the questions posed to them are: How could the Coordinating Committee support to improve Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E) at country and regional level? What should be the short‐term deliverables and work‐plan for the newly formed Coordination Committee in the area of RWSS monitoring and Evaluation, and Reporting? What are the major needs and barriers for effective country M and E and Reporting?

Presenting their report to the Plenary session of the Tunis meeting, participants in this group recommended that the new Coordinating Committee should assist in harmonizing and standardizing RWSS indicators for use in the AMCOW’s M and E; assist countries to develop capacity for RWSSM and E and reporting;  provide platform for linkages to existing instruments, AfDB, African Water Facility (AWF), and promote peer to peer learning and exchanges as well as scaling up good experiences.

Water Supply and Sanitation Engineer, African Development Bank

The second work group deliberated on ‘Financing and resource mobilization for rural water supply and sanitation services’ in Africa; and its report recommended the following:

1.      Development of Investment plan and financing strategy by all countries

2.      Identification of projects to be financed

3.      Need to place emphasis on infrastructure investment instead of support to soft wares such as workshops

4.      Need to improve water and sanitation governance to inspire visibility and confidence

5.      Implementation of sector reform policies to improve efficiency

6.      Development of absorption /implementation capacity by beneficiaries

7.      Use of  call for proposals with transparent and clear time frames; an

8.      Ownership/personal involvement of political leadership.

Other recommendations of the group include:

1.      Development of strategic approaches for post-conflict/fragile states, “aid orphans” such as Central African Republic, Sudan and Guinea Conakry.

2.      Identification of users as a stable source of finance: participation, and the need to balance tariffs and subsidies.

3.      Consideration of the private sector involvement in RWSS based on the examples of Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Senegal.

4.      Learning strategies from urban water supply and sanitation UWSS and scaling up where appropriate.

5.      Cross-sector collaboration: e.g. agriculture, and rural development.

6.      Promotion of government contribution for stability.

7.      Greater involvement in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and mobilising communities.

8.      Campaigning more on the role of Water supply and sanitation  in health and food security

9.      Identification of champions to promote innovative financing.

Another work group considered the structure of the proposed coordinating committee of the RWSSI; and the questions it considered include:

1. Based on your knowledge of existing Africa wide institutions and ongoing activities, what should the membership of the proposed Coordinating Committee be and why?
2. How should it be structured? What are your views on the proposed structure?
3. What should be its short‐term work plan?
4. What are the resources implications for the Coordinating Committee?

In its report, the group recommended a name change from Regional Coordinating Committee of the RWSSSI to Coordinating Committee of the RWSS, arguing that the word ‘regional’  is confusing. Participants also decided that the RWSSI Coordination Committee will comprise of eighteen (18) members drawn from AMCOW, Donor community, AfDB, Civil society, and Water and Sanitation Journalists network.

Specifically, the group recommended that the Coordinating committee should be co chaired by the AfDB and‐ AMCOW Secretariat; and its memberships should include regional representatives AMCOW’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Countries: (Chad, Kenya, Libya, Angola and Nigeria); representatives from Ministries of Finance/Planning  in AMCOW’s TAC countries: (Chad, Kenya, Libya, Angola and Nigeria); a donor representative; a representative from RWSSI‐Trust Fund; one representative from United Nations (UN-Water); Non governmental organizations to be represented by the African Network for Water and Sanitation; the media to be represented by Water and Sanitation Journalists Network; and the civil society to be represented by a well known group.

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

The group also recommended that the structure of the Coordinating committee should be finalized within three months and the inaugural meeting of the body should be convened within the next six months.

One major achievement of the Tunis meeting was the approval of the understated terms of reference for the proposed Coordinating Committee of the RWSSI. It was agreed that the Coordinating committee will embark on:

1.      Regional and international awareness of RWSSI for broader ownership and greater impact.

2.      Advocacy and promotion of resource mobilization for national RWSS programs;

3.      Inter-governmental coordination facilitating sharing;

4.      Regional sector monitoring and reporting;

5.      Promote Transparency and accountability; and,

6.      Promote Knowledge sharing and peer support in: National RWSSI strategies and policy development, Donor harmonization and coordination, Capacity Building, and Monitoring and evaluation for advocacy.

The meeting was rounded up, with the launch of the Coordinating committee of the RWSSI by Christian G. Herbert, Deputy Minister for Rural Development and community Services, Liberia who represented the Liberian President-  Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

For more information on the RWSSI, contact: Nalubega Maimuna- m.nalubega@afdb.org

“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.

#nigeria #right to water The Embassy of France in Nigeria is organising a ‘Week for Water” on the topic ’Water for All” from 9 to 12 April 2013 in Abuja.

Highlight of the week is a Round Table on ”The effective implementation of the right to water. The financing and the roles and responsibilities of the actors”.

This is coming on the heels of a  Presidential Summit on “Innovative Funding of the Water Sector“,  held on 18th and 19th of February, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

According to a statement released in Abuja today, the “Week for Water” is being jointly organised by the Co-operation and Cultural Action Service of the Embassy (SCAC) and the French Development Agency (AFD – Nigeria), in partnership with the French Institute in Abuja.

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources, WaterAid and other stakeholders are supporting the round table.

Screenings of the movie ”A thirsty world” by French filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand and produced with the support of the AFD and the World Water Forum will be shown to the g general public during the week.

Expected participants at the events include the African Ministers’ Council On Water (AMCOW), one or two basins agencies, a research centre, one or two NGOs and some development’s partners.

WaterAid (http://www.wateraid.org)  has called on the Nigerian government to support the ambitious target of providing access to water, sanitation and hygiene for all Africans by 2030.

The call comes as hundreds of Nigerians took part in a Walk for Water to mark in Abuja yesterday to mark this year’s World Water Day

According to Nelson Gomonda, WaterAid Pan-Africa Programme Manager said: “330 million Africans today live without access to clean water, so the road to travel is long, but we can for the first time see the end in sight.  With more than 1,000 African children under the age of five dying every day from diseases brought about from a lack of water and sanitation, Africans will not accept failure. We have to reach this target.”

Currently in Sub-Sahara Africa, 334 million people (39% of the population) lack access to clean drinking water, while under 600 million (70%) lack access to sanitation(5).

 To tackle this problem now, WaterAid is calling on international leaders to:

1.         Recognise the need for the framework that replaces the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 to reflect the contribution of water, sanitation and hygiene to other areas of poverty reduction, including health, education, gender equality, economic growth and sustainability.

2.         For the UN to set a new global target to achieve universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030.

3.         Identify ways of accelerating future rates of progress on sanitation if the goal of universal access is to be met by 2030.

As part of activities planned to mark this year’s World Water Day, WaterAid Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and other members of the End Water Poverty (EWP) and the Keep Your Promises Campaign in Nigeria are joining thousands of people across the world to organise a ‘World Walk for Water & Sanitation’ on Thursday 21 March 2013 at 7.00am.

The symbolic walk is being held in solidarity with the millions who struggle to access clean water and basic sanitation daily. The route for the walk will be from the UNESCO Headquarters (NCCE building near the Federal Secretariat) in Central Area to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) premises in Area 11.

WaterAid Nigeria is collaborating with Federal Ministry of Water Resources and partnering with groups such as the Water and Sanitation Media Network, the Youth WASH Network to call for urgent action to tackle Nigeria’s water and sanitation crisis.

About 500 or more people comprising youths, persons living with disabilities, Youth Corpers, Civil Society Groups, journalists, Civil Servants, are expected to participate in the ‘Walk for Water’

As part of the event, people will be called upon to sign a petition calling on the Nigerian government to keep their promises on leveraging financial resources to develop the water and sanitation sector.

A round table discussion and exhibition on World Water Day will also hold at the International Conference Centre, this Friday by 10am.

World Water Day is celebrated annually to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. This year’s event is dedicated to the theme of cooperation around water.

WaterAid Nigeria has launched a new website accessible at www.wateraid.org/nigeria and featuring improved design and greater integration with social media channels.

Speaking on the new platform, Michael Ojo, Country Representative for WaterAid Nigeria, says the  ‘new website is a communications channel through which we will share news, views, interviews from the field, stories about our work, information on events and we hope that it will also be a space through which we can engage you in the fight to end the WASH crisis in Nigeria’

Kindly find below internet links of the past eleven editions of ”Access to WASH radio programme.

‘Access to WASH’ is a , a weekly radio programme that x rays challenges of residents of urban areas in Lagos state, Nigeria in accessing safe drinking water and sanitation services; and how all stakeholders can work together to overcome these challenges. It is aired every Tuesday on Radio 1, 103.5FM in Lagos between 4.30pm — 5.00 pm

Access to WASH is produced by Water and Sanitation Media Network, Lagos state chapter with the support of Society for Water and Sanitation in Nigeria (NEWSAN) through WaterAid in Nigeria and the UKAID Governance and Transparency Fund.

Comments welcomed

Lagos state, (Nigeria) Water Supply and Sanitation Policy

Lagos Water Corporation Stakeholders policy

Challenges of small scale water supply in Lagos state

State of Public toilets in Lagos state, Nigeria

Water Supply and Sanitation Agencies in Lagos

WASH issues in Lagos state, Nigeria, 2013

Sanitation facilities in public primary and secondary schools in Lagos state, Nigeria

Financing water supply and sanitation services in Lagos state, Nigeria

Water sector reform in Lagos, Nigeria

Inclusive WASH, Lagos, Nigeria

Lagos state water sector law

WaterAid Nigeria is looking for a Regional Learning Centre Coordinator to manage its Learning Centre based in Abuja, Nigeria.

The requirement for this position include a four-year college degree in Social/Health Sciences or other relevant field from a recognized university. A Masters Degree in Sanitation Engineering, Public Health, Social Sciences or Environmental Science will be an advantage.

The position holder must also possess a minimum of 5 years’ work experience, of which at least 3 must be in working in a similar position in the Water and Sanitation (WASH) sector.

Interested candidates can review the job description at www.wateraid.org and send their letters of motivation and current curriculum vitae (CV) to infowaro@wateraid.org.

Closing date for submission of all applications is Friday 10 January  2013 and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

WaterAid is an equal opportunity employer; women and the disabled are particularly encouraged to apply.

                                        Babatope Babalobi         Babalobi@yahoo.com

My heart has been heavy since last Friday. I have just overcame the initial shock, grief, and psychological trauma of losing a dear friend and colleague, one of the finest in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector.

One of the most depressing assignments a Journalist could face is to break the news of a  friend’s obituary. When I heard of the sudden death of Juanita last Friday through an email by Saheed Mustafa, Policy and Partnership Officer at WaterAid, I refused to spread the news.

Later that same day, when   Oluseyi Abdulmalik, Communications and Campaigns Manager, WaterAid in Nigeria, specifically requested I quickly write a befitting  tribute on Juanita During, I also could not surmount the strength to do so.

How do I start writing of Juanita in the past?

My relationship with Juanita During was more than  that of a professional colleague. She was a friend and motivator.  She was also an inspiration in water, sanitation and hygiene  sector -advocacy and activism. Personally, I regard her as a model, and she was always there to  support and encourage my work.

For those who do not know her, Juanita, was the before her death,  the Head of Policy, Advocacy and Partnership at the African Centre for Water and Sanitation (CREPA) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

She had earlier worked for WaterAid Nigeria as Head of governance, UNICEF, and the Afri-projects Consortium which managed the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) in Nigeria.

She was reported to have died on died last Thursday, August 16 at a Burkina Faso hospital after a brief illness.

My eyes are filled with tears as I write this piece on a person, that has been described by various people as a ‘Rising Star’ in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector, nationally, regionally, and internationally. As the Yoruba ethnic group in Nigeria will say’ Iku fi osika sile, omu eni rere lo’. (Death left the wicked and took a good person).

Juanita was one of the most passionate people on WASH that I have come across. Her profound commitment to increasing access of services to the poor is perhaps unmatchable by any other person in Nigeria, nay in the African continent. When I approached her for an interview at the Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene in Mumbai, October 2011, she said she is willing to answer all questions, saying with confidence and modesty that even if she was just woken from a sleep, there was not question on WASH she could not answer or an issue she could not respond to.

No International meeting on WASH was complete without her participation and egregious contribution. She had the WASH facts on her finger tips and figures on her lips. She is well known and respected for making informed commentary with a power of oratory fuelled by a deep conviction that WASH issues need to be put in the front burner.

You cannot come in contact with Juanita and not become won over to WASH advocacy. On August 24, 2011 during the World Water Week in Stockholm, she was one of the speakers at a seminar titled: ‘Drive to 2015’, where the strategies of achieving the WASH Millennium Development Goals were discussed. Before she was called to the podium, the speakers before her, had described water sanitation in esoteric and technical terms, such as ‘human excreta’ and ‘human waste’.

When she picked the microphone, she set the hall literally ablaze with an infectious conviction, speaking powerfully, breaking the communication barrier, and laying the facts bare; she described human waste simply as ‘shit’ to a thunderous applause. Her quarrel was that even the sector practitioners are reluctant to talk about ‘shit’ in plain and simple language.

The proceeding of the event as report by eWASH titled: “Stakeholders discuss ‘shit’ at World Water Week” http://assemblyonline.info/?p=13269; is reproduced below:

“At a seminar on ‘Drive to 2015’ during the World Water Week in Stockholm, yesterday, During said: all stakeholders need to talk more about “shit”.

Speaking forcefully that the sanitation target in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be achieved, if sanitation becomes trendier to stakeholders, she said “I’m not very good at political correctness, but let’s face it; we are here to talk about shit,”

“It is not pretty, it doesn’t smell nice and we want to get away from it, but it is a matter of life and death. We need to make sure that sanitation and hygiene is trendy, hence the catchy acronym: SHIT”, said Juanita During who represented CREPA (Centre Regional pour l’Eau Potable et l’Assainissement à faible coût) at the ceremony”

The second day, she event was expectedly the lead story of the ‘Waterfront’  the daily newsletter of the World Water Week, and her picture and comments graced the cover. http://www.worldwaterweek.org/documents/WWW_PDF/Media/2011/2011WWW-Thursday-low.pdf

As some of us her friends and colleagues  in Stockholm, sat down to review the ‘Waterfront’ story of the titled: ‘Sanitation needs a higher profile to achieve UN targets’, a colleague who jocularly wanted to diminish the impact of her messages, commented that her picture was put on the cover of the Waterfront, because of beautiful face.  The rest of us defended Juanita, stating  while we agreed that she had a beautiful face, she also had a beautiful brain and a mastery of WASH issues.

Juanita was a queen. She had a beautiful face and a beautiful heart. She had a charming and infectious debonair , yet friendly, humble and down to earth. She knows her job and was exemplary in her profession. She was a golden fish in hot demand by all development partners.

She once told me she is not perturbed about her marital challenges, confessing that she is a child of God, and God’s marital plan for her will eventually materialised. Death missed the point by snatching her as she is about to settled down in marriage after the years of waiting. Unknown to death, Juanita has gone home as a bride, to meet the true bridegroom.

Goodnight Juanita, you shall be sorely missed. But we shall meet in heaven.

Babatope Babalobi is the Executive Director of Bread of Life Development Foundation, Lagos, Nigeria.