By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have reaffirmed their commitment in supporting Bauchi State to achieve appreciable level of success in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Chief of WASH Program , UNICEF Nigeria, country office Mrs Jane Bevan when she led officials of UNICEF on an advocacy visit to the state deputy governor, Senator Baba Tela in his office.
Mrs. Jane Bevan said with the achievements recorded in the implementation WASH programs, UNICEF will sustain its partnership and support the state in order to increase coverage of the WASH project across the State.
According to her, UNICEF programs are aimed to assist in ensuring attainment of the sustainable development goals which are key to making Nigeria attain Open Defecation Free (ODF) status and full coverage of water supply by the year 2030.
“It is a great pleasure to be in Bauchi and we are currently visiting states where UNICEF is implementing its programs especially on water, sanitation and hygiene and we are here to see the progress so far made in Bauchi and to see how we can support further to increase coverage.
“Our discussion with His Excellency, the Bauchi State Deputy Governor was centered on the fantastic progress made so far on WASH programs and activities and to reaffirm that UNICEF will continue to partner with the state government.”
The Chief of Wash, UNICEF Nigeria said UNICEF has a great history of partnership with the Bauchi state government and she hoped they will continue to work together to achieve more than what was achieved so far.
Responding, the deputy governor, Senator Baba Tela while appreciating UNICEF and other donor organizations for their interventions in the state, assured of the commitment of the state towards the timely release of counterpart funds.
“We need UNICEF interventions in Bauchi state, UNICEF and other donor organizations have always being there for to us in the provision of funds and technical support on how to implement programs that in the final analysis will be for the benefit and good of our people especially the younger ones.
“So our discussion basically centered on what we have done and what we are going to do particularly on WASH and open defecation free and on our part, we will continue to support our MDAs working on the implementation of the project to ensure proper coordination.”