The European Union and UNICEF have signed a five-year contribution agreement for a rural water and sanitation project in Plateau, Ekiti and Adamawa States.
The deal, worth €14.75m (about N3bn), also entails another four-year contribution agreement worth €30m (about N6.75bn) to scale up improvement in maternal, newborn and child health in Kebbi and Adamawa states.
According to a statement by UNICEF Nigeria, this gesture is a follow up to the corresponding Financing Agreements signed on April 30, 2013 between the Federal Government and EU to strengthen their collaborative partnership and development agenda.
Head of Operations at the EU Delegation to Nigeria, Mr. Pierre Philippe, who signed on behalf of EU, remarked that it was investing about €200m (about N40bn) in the Nigeria water and sanitation sector for the period 2012 to 2017.
He explained that the amount represented the largest EU investment in the sector outside Europe.
Philippe pledged the continued support of the EU in the fight against poverty and in maintenance of peace in Nigeria.
The Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Project, Phase III (WSSSRP III), implemented by UNICEF, is designed to strengthen the capacity of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) sector institutions in Adamawa, Plateau and Ekiti States. This, the statement added, was aimed at supporting sector governance and increased access to improved and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services delivery in the rural communities in the three states.
The overall objective of the health project is to significantly improve the health status of women and children through an improved and sustainable primary health care delivery system in Kebbi and Adamawa states.
The statement noted that 2,100 children, under the age of five years, and 75 pregnant women die every day from preventable diseases in the country. It added that the main causes of these deaths for children under five are malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea.
Nigeria, the world body stated, contributes about 10 per cent of global burden of maternal deaths.
Under-nutrition and malnutrition are major causes of childhood morbidity. It is estimated that 24 per cent of children under five (U5) years of age are underweight and 36 per cent of children are estimated to be stunted (MICS 2011).
In water and sanitation, according to the 2011 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey report, over 118 million Nigerians lacked access to improved sanitation while another 70 million inhabitants did not have access to safe water in 2011.
UNICEF also added that nearly 49 million Nigerians were estimated to resort to open defecation in 2011.
"In sub Saharan Africa, one out of five people who use un-improved sanitation facility lives in Nigeria. The absolute number of unserved people varies from state to state while the level of non-functioning water supply systems in the rural areas is estimated to be about 40 per cent in some states.
