Nigeria

2020 Voluntary National Review

Nigeria reported to have ongoing issues with access to sanitation, as 24% of the population still practices open defecation and only 19% have safely treated sanitation services. The country further noted that these numbers have declined since the 2018 findings from WASH NORM, and as a result, a state of emergency has been declared in the WASH sector which gave the Department of National Water Resources (DNWR) a presidential executive order to facilitate the implementation of the National Open Defecation Roadmap 2025. It is reported that the financing for this initiative was made possible through a World Bank loan of US$700 million, signed in 2019 with implementation to begin in 2021. Nigeria further noted that despite this leadership and budget prioritization at the federal level, less than a third of Nigeria’s states have followed suit. They informed to face challenges regarding how to get the state of emergency to be prioritized in all 36 states across the country in order to achieve the most effective health benefits associated with access to sanitation with dignity.  

Overall, Nigeria reported that, according to UNICEF, the country currently ranks among the world’s five worst performers in the proportion of its population that can access safe water supply, sanitation services and hygiene. They informed to be involved in some initiatives that are currently underway to expand water and sanitation efforts in the country, including a coordination of private sector actors through their Corporate Social Investment Strategies. Telecommunications companies in Nigeria for example are contributing technological innovation by expanding the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the private sector group driving the WASH engagement, also mobilized telecommunications companies to send out text messages raising the importance of handwashing. These types of initiative fall under Nigeria’s PEWASH strategy inaugurated in 2019 and highlights the success in mobilizing a broad set of stakeholders in playing a role in expanding essential services.  

Read the full report here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26308VNR_2020_Nigeria_Report.pdf 

*The information reflected on this page has been taken directly from the official VNR received from this Member State. The information does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations.