Ending Open Defecation: The Roles of Academia and Private Sector
The result of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH-NORM) survey, showed that about 47 million Nigerians still practice open defecation.
UNICEF report also posit that only 10 out of the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria are certified to be open-defecation-free.
Globally, Nigeria is ranked second behind India, as the country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation. Disturbed by the decadence in the WASH sector and stark statistics of open defecation, the Federal Government of Nigeria declared a State of Emergency in the WASH Sector in April 2018 and subsequently inaugurated the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign, respectively.
4.5 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation
Globally, more people own a mobile phone than a toilet
315,000 children die each year due to poor toilet sanitation
38 workers die every hour from a disease caused by lack of sanitation
50% of all malnutrition cases are associated with inadequate sanitation
For every $1 invested in toilet sanitation, there is a $4.30 return on reduced health care
The “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” Campaign of the Federal Government of Nigeria is aimed at coordinating interventions to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025. The robust citizen-led campaign is multisectoral and can only be effectively implemented through a concerted effort of all key stakeholders in the WASH Sector. The roles of the Academia and Private Sector in facilitating the Federal Government of Nigeria goal of ending open defecation by 2025, cannot be over-emphasized.
Considering the key roles to be played by the Academia and private sector in achieving the goal of ending open defecation, Ogun State College of Health Technology and Hope Spring Water Charity Foundation are organizing a one-day workshop and Lecture Series that will bring together Research and Development (R&D) experts in the Academia and private sector players, to proffer cutting-edge solutions to the open defecation menace in Nigeria.
Event Sessions:
- Presentations
- Panel and Plenary discussions
- Exhibitions
Event Date and Time
- Date: 05 December 2019
- Time: 10am
Venue
Centre for Entrepreneurship
Ogun State College of Health Technology, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Henry Sawyeer
Center for Ecological and Environmental Research Management and Studies
Kwara State University, Malete
Dr. Nicholas Igwe
Chief Executive Officer/ Managing Director,
Zenith Water Projects Limited