Provision of adequate potable water, safe sanitation and good hygiene practices in the rural areas are the key elements of stepping down the high indices of maternal and child mortality and timely attainment of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria.
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina stated this when Nigeria's Ambassador for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Engr. Ebele Okeke paid aworking visit to her office in Abuja.
Maina said the challenges related to lack of potable water, sanitation and good hygiene practices in Nigeria, especially at the grassroots where rural dwellers suffer poverty and ignorance, require greater commitment on the part of all stakeholders.
She therefore called for constructive dialogue with relevant stakeholders at national, state and local government levels to discuss ways of dealing with those challenges, such as establishing institutional and coordinating mechanisms for increased funding for sanitation and hygiene interventions, including building capacity at all levels.
She said the Ministry will soon embark on grass-roots advocacy to the states of the federation, with a view to raising national consciousness on issues and concerns associated with the use of clean drinking water, healthy environment and proper hygiene habits by women and children.
"As we go round the country on our advocacy, we will educate the rural women and the urban poor to learn to boil and purify water they fetch from streams and ponds. They should learn to wash their hands, clothes and clean their surroundings."
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201204100638.html
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