The Partnership for Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation, Hygiene, (PEWASH) initiative has constructed 3,321 facilities, serving an estimated population of about 5,262,189 people across 19 states of the federation.
This was revealed on Thursday by the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Terlumun Utsev, saying the programme conceptualized and launched by the Federal Government on 7th November, 2016, as a national collaborative and partnership intervention between key stakeholders, to increase access to water supply and sanitation in Nigeria towards achieving the SDG 6.1 and 6.2, by 2030 in the rural areas is achieving it purposes.
He said the programme focuses on “Out-put” (Projects) instead of “Input” (Funds) in the rural water supply and sanitation financing, providing an opportunity to transform the WASH sector to deliver results at required scale by adopting “Counterpart Matching Projects”.
“The goal of PEWASH is to contribute to improvements in public health and eradication of poverty in Nigeria, through equitable and sustainable WASH interventions.”
According to him, since inception of the programme, 35 State Governments and FCT have signed the PEWASH Protocol (PP), with Rivers State outstanding.
“Under the FGN PEWASH Component, it has constructed, rehabilitated and upgraded 2,046 water supply facilities in 19 States of: Kano, Ogun, Bauchi, Osun, Ondo, Jigawa, Plateau, Ekiti, Gombe, Kaduna, Cross River, Kwara, Delta, Katsina, Oyo Sokoto and Nasarawa States, and serving an estimated population of about 3,729,000 people
“Under the State PEWASH Component, they have constructed, rehabilitated and upgraded a total number of 1,275 facilities and 761 sanitation facilities, serving an estimated population of about 1,533,189 people, with a total of 19 participating States across the 6 geo-political zones.
“The PEWASH programme introduced an innovative technology of sustainable drinking water solutions in Kano and Ogun States, with construction of five (5) Nos. Water health Centres in Ogun State in 5 LGAs which were completed and commissioned;
“While additional 5 Nos. AQtap Water Kiosks Dispenser with integrated revenue collection in 5 LGAs of Kano State, are still ongoing in Nasarawa, Fagge, Dala, Ungogo, and Kumbotso LGAs;
He said the programme still faces the challenges of poor funding commitment by some state governments.
