Towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goal 6 which is to ensure access to water and sanitation for all in Nigeria, WaterAid Nigeria in partnership with Connected Development, CODE have launched a national campaign, #Vote4WASH, which seeks to prioritize and mainstream Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the 2019 electioneering processes and political conversations.
The #Vote4WASH campaign is initiated to curb the menace of vote buying and ensure candidates and their political parties are focused on social development rather than voters inducement.
This was disclosed in a press release issued by Ani Nwachukwu, the coordinator of the #Vote4WASH campaign.
Nwachukwu noted that the campaign would help candidates contesting for various elective positions recognize the need to address social issues during the electioneering process.
She buttressed that, “In 2018, estimated 60 million Nigerians live without clean water, 120 million lack access to decent toilet facilities and 46 million practice open defecation. This implies that with 12 years left to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (Vision 2030), Nigeria will find it difficult to achieve #SDGs Goal 6:
Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.”
“More disturbing is the fact that annually, about 60,000 Nigerian children, under the age of five, die of WASH-related diseases. With such distressing statistics, #Vote4WASH is mobilizing electoral stakeholders – political parties and their candidates for Gubernatorial, Senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly positions; community-based organisations; civil societies; electorates and indeed all Nigerians, to recognize and appreciate the actual power of elections and vote for issues that directly enhance living
standards and uplift livelihood statuses, e.g. WASH.”
Nwachukwu explained the structure of the campaign noting that “WASH-based advocacy-oriented activities had been carefully selected in three states – Lagos, Edo and Kano to cover three geopolitical zones of South West, South
South and North West, respectively. In the set of proposed campaign activities, our teams would set the platform for stakeholders and citizens to hold conversations on policy proposals captured in manifestos of political parties as it affects WASH, probe and interrogate their feasibilities, take note of project implementation timelines and specific pronouncements by candidates, commit to adequate budgetary
provisions and appropriations, sign Pledge Cards that would seal their commitments to deliver WASH
services etc.
“At the end of each meeting, there would be collation; documentation and recap of structural commitments by candidates and political parties and its adoption and ownership would assume the status
of a tool for continuous engagement after elections for improved service delivery in the grassroots.”
Nwachukwu explained that the successful implementation of the campaign would help achieve something much in the country. She added that “when successfully implemented, #Vote4WASH would aid/enhance economic development, poverty
reduction, education, health and more.”
