UN Forum to Coordinate Efforts to Address Global Water Shortages
WaterAid Nigeria backs FG declaration of state of emergency in WASH sector
With extreme weather costing hundreds of billions a year and fears that by 2050, one in four people will be living in a country affected by severe water shortages, a global conference has been convened by the United Nations meteorological agency to manage the precious resource more sustainably.
The problem has been further complicated by a lack of comprehensive water supply data and monitoring systems which is making it harder to respond to the growing crisis, a UN release noted. “We cannot manage what we do not measure,” said the President of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Commission for Hydrology, Mr. Harry Lins.
“And yet the systems and data collection which underpin these vital services to society are under real pressure,” he added, underscoring that informed decision-making must be based on comprehensive facts and figures.
The HydroConference, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland from 7-9 May, brought together water stakeholders including decision makers, meteorological and hydrological services; the private and academic sector; non-governmental organisations, and UN entities – around the same table to coordinate efforts as well as leverage individual knowledge and collective expertise to maximum effect.
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said it was important for all actors to cope with the scale of the challenges that lie ahead, citing the two extremes of droughts and floods.
“Effective flood and drought policies can be implemented only with data and models for assessing the frequency and magnitude of extreme events,” he said, adding that the same also holds for other goals related to water and its efficient use; including those in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) explicitly calls for sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Water is also a key component for other Goals including those on eliminating extreme poverty (SDG 1); as well as Goal 2, to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, as well as Goal 13 on mitigating climate change.
Meanwhile, WaterAid Nigeria has commended the Federal Government for its bold step in declaring a state of emergency for water, sanitation and hygiene, following strong calls by the former and other members of the WASH sector demanding action to tackle the water and sanitation crisis in the country.
WaterAid, an international charity dedicated to changing lives by improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene for the poorest and most marginalised communities, advocated a state of emergency to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goal of access to water and sanitation for everyone, everywhere by 2030 would be achieved.
According to a release issued by WaterAid Nigeria’s Communications & Media Manager, Oluseyi Abdulmalik, “although Nigeria is oil-rich and has sub-Saharan Africa’s largest income, it has nonetheless struggled to deliver clean water and sanitation to its people. The country has made solid progress in reaching people with water: seven in ten people now have clean water to drink. “But a gap between poor and rich persists, as only 30 per cent of the poorest people have access to clean water, compared to 89 per cent of the richest. And with fewer than three in ten people having a decent toilet, the country has a big task ahead to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal targets for water and sanitation access.
“On World Water Day 2018, WaterAid Nigeria urged the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the water and sanitation sector. WaterAid Nigeria also called on the federal government to set up a presidential taskforce empowered to lead, coordinate and deliver on providing water and sanitation for all Nigerians”, the release added.