ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- While the Coronavirus pandemic currently puts the global health situation to test, WaterAid believes access to clean water, sanitation and handwashing facilities with effective communications are crucial to managing the crisis in stopping the spread of the virus.
In a bid to ensure everyone everywhere has access to WASH, and integral to WaterAid’s ways of working is Equity and Inclusion, WaterAid and the South Saharan Social Development Organization, on 9th September, 2022 held a meeting with the Joint Association of People With Disabilities (JONAPWD).
This aims to strengthen already existing partnership, and to ensure equity and inclusion in government planning, policies and interventions, especially regarding WASH mitigations to COVID-19 within the State.
The meeting also was a platform to introduce the second phase of the Hygiene Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCCII) project and WaterAid’s approach to hygiene behaviour change through interventions and messages designed to reach the people of Igboeze North Communities in Enugu State including women, children and people with disabilities.
As part of the preparations towards the implementation of the Hygiene Behaviour Change Coalition Phase 2 (HBCCII) project, the call for collaboration with JONAPWD in the planning and roll-out of the HBCCII project is pivotal to ensuring no one is left behind.
The collaboration is also envisaged to support government’s efforts in combating emerging strains of the COVID-19 variants through hygiene behaviour change, increase in vaccine uptake and improved personal and environmental hygiene.
Mr. Eta Eteta, Programme Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer for WaterAid, Enugu made this known in an interview with voiceofnaija.ng.
He emphasized the role of JONAWPD; the organizational representation of the persons with disabilities, in making sure their voices and needs are strongly considered in every phase of the project.
“Under the Hygiene Behaviours Change Coalition (HBCC) Phase 2 project, one key deliverable is to ensure that we work closely with them in our planning, implementation as well as execution of our project activities.”
He also noted that the project is designed to complement the ‘Clean Family Campaign’ which aligns with the government’s nation-wide “Clean Nigeria Campaign”, to drive hygiene promotion in response to COVID-19 using a behavior-centered design approach.
The Chairman Enugu State chapter of the JONAPWD, Onyebuchi Mbah, expressed his profound gratitude to WaterAid and the South Sahara Social Development Organization, for the collaborative effortd to include persons with disabilities.
“We look forward to a sustained partnership, especially at the commencement of subsequent WASH projects targeted at curbing the spread of COVID-19 or other infectious diseases.”