By: Nyima Sillah
Young Volunteers for the Environment (YVE) The Gambia in partnership with Water Aid UK and Sanitation & Water for All (SWA) Monday trained stakeholders on safe water and sanitation hygiene, at a program held in NaNa Hall, Kanifing.
The training was held under a theme: secure water empowerment citizens: the essential role of social accountability ‘scaling up wash and WRH solution for broader impact.’
In his opening remarks, Joe Bongay, Executive Director Young Volunteers for the Environment (YVE) The Gambia said: the national multi-stakeholder forum is to help strengthen multi-stakeholder fora that promote learning, exchange and best practices in climate resilient wash development.
“Our mission as members of the SWA partnership is to eliminate inequalities in realizing the human rights to water and sanitation by raising political will, ensuring good governance, and helping to optimize financing,” he noted.
Also, he said people don’t know that safe hygiene practice and access to sanitation are crucial for combating the main health threats to children under five, in particular diarrhoea. “Approximately 88 percent of all diarrhoea infections worldwide are attributed to unsafe water supply, lack of safe hygiene practice and basic sanitation infrastructure.”
He said according to NDP 2018-2021, significant disparities exist in access, especially to sanitation between rural 63.6% and urban 91.1%. Adding that WASH/WRM is not a priority area in national policies, plan and not prioritize in the national budgeting process.
“We hope this forum would help to support the role of WASH national programs, build the capacity of community members and stakeholders in taking actions accordance with the problems, needs and potential of the various communities at country level,” he expressed with hope.
Meanwhile, Buba Manjan from Ministry of Health disclosed that a lot of work has been done in water sanitation and hygiene and also water resource management in different facets involving different players so they noticed that to make it more impactful there is need to come together. That is why, he said, they formed the technical working group that entitles to everyone.
Dawda Badgie, NEA added that this is a task that is supposed to look into social accountability in issues related to sanitation aspect which will lead citizen to whole public officials and service providers accountable to the use of public resources and services delivered.