Delta, USAID partner over effective water, sanitation, hygiene

The Delta State Urban Water Corporation and United States Agency for International Development, USAID are strengthening partnership on effective water, sanitation and hygiene.

To this end, the two parties will today continue its quarterly roundtable workshop with the media.

The event themed, “Effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Service (E-WASH) programme and being jointly organised with the Delta State WASH Media Network, the ‘Quarterly Roundtable Meeting’, is to provide media practitioners with relevant information on progress made so far on the four-year project between the state and USAID.

According to a statement by the General Manager, Delta State urban Water Corporation, Nosa Okoh, “the meeting, which will hold on Wednesday (today) at the Conference Room of Delta State Urban Water Corporation Headquarters, Asaba is to appraise the programme that seeks to improve water and sanitation service delivery in the state.”

He recalled that “USAID/Nigeria Effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services (USAID E-WASH), a four-year programme, seeks to improve urban water and sanitation service delivery by strengthening the governance, financial, and technical viability of six state water boards (SWBs) in Abia, Delta, Imo, Niger, Sokoto and Taraba states in Nigeria.”

“The activity will build closer coordination between USAID and Nigeria, with the Federal ministry of Water Resources (FMWR), select state water boards (SWBs) and allied stakeholders to advance sustained growth by improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in urban areas,” Okoh stated.

He stressed the importance of the project, stating: “A priority area for this activity is to reform the governance of SWBs resulting in cost recovery, more investment in infrastructure and better access to water and sanitation to a large number of un-served and underserved population.”

He added: “This will result in E-WASH helping the SWBs show that when water boards perform better, customers will get quality services, the economy and state finances will improve as cost recovery will increase and subsidies reduce. The state will also be empowered to meet all customers’ needs in selected urban areas, including the poor.”