National WASH Coalition
The Federal Ministry of Water Resources established the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS), the acting national WASH coalition, in 2007. The NTGS brings together ministries and government agencies as well as NGOs, donors and representatives of civil society and the media.
Focus
The Task Group concentrates on:
- advocacy, policy and strategy development
- guidance and capacity building
- research, sanitation and hygiene promotion.
Milestones and achievements
The NTGS coordinates, plans, and develops sector policies on sanitation and hygiene. It then implements, monitors and evaluates them. From 2010 the coalition will focus on strengthening decentralized coordination of all sanitation work at State and local government levels.
Policy development and advocacy by the NTGS has included:
- Reviewing and commenting on the sanitation component of the draft national Poverty Reduction Strategy document. This revealed gaps in the area of sanitation which the coalition addressed.
- Holding a workshop (arranged by NGO members of the NTGS) for the National Assembly House Committee on Water Resources, to raise awareness of the national situation in drinking water access and sanitation coverage.
- Producing a National Strategy for Scaling-up Rural Sanitation and Hygiene, starting to develop a harmonized sanitation policy tool and mainstreaming school hygiene promotion.
- Disseminating the Implementation Guidelines for Sanitation and minimum standards on sanitation and hygiene in schools.
Capacity building has involved conducting a national and a zonal workshop on Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), and a trainer’s programme for facilitators.
Research, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion work by the NTGS has covered:
- Participation in a WaterAid-sponsored three-country study on sustainability and equity aspects of CLTS . This included field visits with observation, interviews and community mapping with the aim of assessing the WaterAid programme’s effectiveness in fighting open defecation.
- A WASH material development workshop in 2009 increased the knowledge of journalists on basic sanitation and hygiene issues, and developed promotional material for print and electronic media in English. It was also translated into the three main Nigerian languages. The workshop included lectures, message development and translations, as well as testing of materials.
- Celebration of Global Handwashing Day. In 2008, Nigeria's first lady, Hajia Turai Yara'dua, launched the National Campaign. "The act of hand washing appears simple and is often taken for granted, yet it is rated as the most important thing to do to prevent ill health. Many people do not practice the basic personal hygiene of washing the hands before cooking or serving food at homes or restaurants, or after using the toilets," she said.
