The Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) has commenced campaign of sensitising Nigerians on the need to maintain good hygiene through the provision of safe toilets.
The people of Dei Dei community and environmental officers
The health officers of the council were sensitising Nigerians as part of the activities lined up to mark the 2018 World Toilet Day as declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013.
The theme of this year’s World Toilet Day is “When Nature Calls” focuses on raising awareness and inspiring actions to tackle global sanitation crisis as well as ensuring that toilet construction and management are ecosystem friendly.
The campaign on Thursday, November 15, 2018 took the EHORECON team to Dei Dei community on a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The team leader, Mr Nathaniel Omonayajo, demonstrated to the people the dangers of open defecation.
He said that apart from the unsightly nature of open defecation, it also causes serious health challenges.
Omonayajo urged them to ensure healthier methods of disposing feaces.
“A major consequence of poor excreta disposal is the high rate of morbidity and mortality among children,” he said.
Mr Damian Mgbaramuko, the President, Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria, FCT Chapter, expressed pleasure that the present administration had shown commitment in addressing sanitation challenges in the country as well as ending open defecation.
Ahaji Haruna Sani, the Sarki of Dei-dei community, appealed to the government to assist rural communities through the provision of public toilets and adequate dumpsites for proper refuse disposal.
The National Coordinator, Clean-Up Nigeria (CUN), Prince Ene Owoh, says a recent performance indicator result shows that over 175 million Nigerians live in unclean environments.
An unclean environment
As a result, he called for increased funding on sanitation as well as improved working conditions for sanitary workers.
Owoh made the disclosure on Thursday, November 15, 2018 in Abuja during the presentation of the State of Nation’s Cleanliness Performance Rating Index for all states, capitals, cities and geo-political zones of Nigeria for 2018.
He said the rating was carried out by a 15-man National Technical Working Committee for the Conference of Green Crystal Awards (GCA) pursuant to the silver jubilee celebration of Clean-Up Nigeria.
The National Population Commission (NPC) had in April put Nigeria’s current population at 198 million.
Owoh said the report presented indicated that funding by state and local government councils were inadequate and amounted to nothing in comparison with the work at hand.
“The performance indicators and the results of the report showed over 175 million Nigerians live in unclean environments.
“The condition and wages of sanitary workers should be improved, and medical allowances given for their regular health check-ups, at least twice yearly.
“There has also been steady and increased deterioration of the health of sanitary workers in Nigeria by 75 per cent,” he said.
Owoh said a way of improving on sanitation, government should be to tackle the dangers of open defecation by building more public toilets and baths nationwide.
“The sanitation and hygiene practices of the people in over 33 states and the FCT still leaves much to be desired which calls for serious management on the part of government, individuals and groups.
“There has been prevalence of sanitation related diseases from 20-35 different diseases in Nigeria today but steady decline in the procurement of sanitation management equipment,” said Owoh.
He said additional emphasis should also be given to the informal sectors engaged in waste recycling and re-use enterprise as a means of generating employment.
He called on government at all levels to set up and enforce the regular clean-up of drains with renewed energy, as 93 per cent of the states have seriously neglected the cleaning of gutters and drains, as well as vegetation control.
The Nation’s Performance Rating Index Report adjudged the state of Akwa Ibom as the cleanest state for 2018, while Abuja and Cross River states came second and third respectively.
NAN also reports that the performance indicators used included street cleanliness, vegetation and drain control, waste management services, public opinion, knowledge, attitude and practice of hygiene and sanitation of the people.
For the first time since the adoption of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 1994, world governments are meeting to consider the impact of land degradation on people and ecosystems, drawing on data gathered on the ground. The meeting will take place on January 29 to 30, 2019 in Georgetown, Guyana, during the Seventeenth Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 17).
Georgetown, Guyana
In 2009, scientists recommended, and governments agreed on the 11 indicators to use to measure land degradation. The proportion of the population living above the poverty line, which measures the impact on people, and the change in land cover, which measures the impact on the land, are mandatory.
The indicator on land cover was refined further in 2014 and now measures land cover, soil organic content and net primary productivity. It was made one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators of Life on Land in 2015 because achieving it – known as achieving land degradation neutrality – will ensure there is stability in the amount and quality of land resources necessary to support life on Earth by 2030, and onwards.
Further, CRIC 17 will consider, in depth, this and other emerging issues such as drought management, halting forced migration in degraded areas negatively impacted by climate change and progress in promoting gender equality, which are on the agenda of Conference of the Parties – the governing body of the Convention – that will meet in Fall 2019. CRIC 17 will be preceded by a two-day training some of these issues.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 approved the ratification of the Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 during the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC – COP3), Kyoto, Japan
Minister of State for Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman Jibril, made this known when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the weekly meeting of the Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to the minister, the protocol concerns the UNFCCC, an international environmental treaty adopted on May 9, 1992. Climate change is regarded as a major global issue across the world.
The Doha Amendment establishes a second commitment period (2013 to 2020) for the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1997 by the third Conference of the Parties (COP3) in Kyoto, Japan.
The Federal Ministry of Environment presented a memo which was taken and approved for the ratification of the Doha amendment of the Kyoto Protocol.
“This Protocol concerns the UN framework convention on climate change, which is a major global issue across the world now.
“The Protocol was crafted in 2004 and Nigeria is a party to that and the initial period of commitment of the Kyoto Protocol was from 2008-2012 and, after that, the new segment now is 2013-2020,’’
He maintained that the essence of the protocol was to commit advanced countries to mitigate the effects of gas emissions on developing countries.
The minister further stressed that the Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol was essentially meant to assist countries like Nigeria that were not producing any significant emission but suffering the consequences.
“The essence of this protocol is to commit advanced or developed countries that are mostly industrialised and are at the forefront of production of gas emissions, which are harmful to the environment, leading to climate change and therefore causing global problems environmentally.
“So, the Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol is essentially to assist countries like Nigeria, which are developing and are not producing any significant emission but are suffering the consequences. We are all aware of flooding that we experienced this year, and this has been going since 2012.’’
According to the minister, by ratifying the protocol, Nigeria and other developing countries stand to gain a lot in form of financial assistance and access to technology.
“The benefit Nigeria stands to gain from this Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol is that, first of all, once the amendment is ratified as we want it to be, there will be access to financial assistance which will help in motivating and adapting to impact of climate change.
“Secondly, there will be access to technology and capacity building and there will also be networking with other nations and organisations, who are more advanced and can be of help to us as a country.
“Lastly, continuation of flexible mechanisms and contribution to global efforts as no one country has the solution for this problem alone. So, the idea is to team up and then get the developing countries to be assisted effectively, he added.
He said the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, would provide the instrument of ratification, which would also be signed later by the President and be deposited at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
On the Ogoni cleanup, Jibril said the Federal Government had so far generated over $180 million for the commencement of the exercise in the next few weeks.
The minister disclosed that about 21 contractors would be mobilised to site as the procurement processes had reached the final advantaged stage.
He said: “Yesterday (Nov. 13) the Ministerial Tender Board sat to consider the submission of the procurement department of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) and 15 lots were up for grabs.
“On Friday, the Governing Council of the Ogoni Trust Fund will meet and ratify this, and we hope that, by the next week, these letters will be out, and the contractors will be mobilised to site.
“You must ask whether there is funding, yes, of course there is funding. Again, this is the first time the government has done something.
“Because of the confidence that the oil companies have in the government, because of the governance structures that are put in place, the opening of the Ogoni Trust Fund will be able to mobilise $180 million from the oil companies.
“From the NNPC, SPDC and other ventures, they have mobilised $180 million and it is in the escrow account with the Standard Chartered Bank of London and the Board of Trustee is managing that.’’
Usman observed that the Buhari administration had indicated genuine commitment towards ensuring smooth implementation of the Ogoni cleanup.
He, therefore, enjoined all stakeholders, including the affected communities, to continue to support and show more understanding for a hitch-free cleanup.
“So, as far as we are concerned, we can beat our chest and say that the Buhari administration has shown the way forward on this cleanup exercise and we hope and pray that the people whom we are working for, will have cause to laugh and smile very soon,’’ he added.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 raised an alarm of impending armyworm invasion of maize and rice plantations in the country.
Armyworm invasion
FAO said in its November Situation Report that the invasion of the Fall Army Worm (FAW) would ravage farmlands affecting an estimated 1.5 million farming households.
The fact sheet indicated that the Spodoptera Frugiperda, otherwise called FAW, is a devastating pest commonly found in tropical climate and feeds on approximately 80 plant species including maize and rice.
It disclosed that the pest continued to ravage maize fields at an alarming rate since it was first discovered in 2016 in Nigeria, adding that the damage caused by the pest was estimated at over $268 million in Abia, Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo states.
FAO noted that FAW’s alarming rate of expansion and its manifestation in many parts of the country portends great danger to the availability for food and a major concern to stakeholders.
In Nigeria, maize is not only a major staple food crop relevant to the food security and nutrition of nearly 200 million people, but also a key input for industry in the country.
“The sector is a key source of income to millions of Nigerians, more than 80 per cent of households engage in an agriculture-based livelihood.
“Agriculture is also essential to national food security, nutrition, foreign exchange earnings, employment and revenue,” it said.
To control the pest, FAO adopted FAW project which focused at capacity building and integrated pest management, as well as conducted a livelihood impact mapping exercise in July 2018; in six states of the south while similar exercise was being conducted in six Northern states.
FAO listed the projects to include capacity building training for 1,200 farmers; 100 extension workers, and 50 stakeholders including researchers, quarantine officers and other personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The document showed that the trainees were exposed to techniques on the application of surveillance tools, worm recognition, control and management, while the organisation also distributed fertilisers, seeds and inputs to the farmers.
It showed that each of the benefiting farmers received 25 kilograms of certified maize seeds, one kilogram of herbicide, 50 kilogrammes of NPK fertilisers, one knapsack sprayer and one pheromone trap.
According to the document, the organisation needs adequate funding to enhance response activities and effectively control the pest.
“FAO’s funding for FAW activities has been depleted; the organisation is currently the sole financial source for its response in Nigeria, though committed to saving the livelihoods of farmers and other agriculture sector stakeholders affected by FAW, FAO faces significant financial constraints to carry out monitoring, prevention and response activities.
“To undertake a comprehensive response in Nigeria, FAO is seeking 3 million dollars to upscale FAW mitigation and elimination through direct response and capacity development of local actors.
“To date, FAO’s FAW response has totaled 461, 000 dollars. It has utilised funding from its Technical Cooperation Fund to provide FAW-related support in Nigeria. The Organisation requires urgent support from willing resource partners to save livelihoods affected by FAW.”
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is meeting with key players in sanitation, among other stakeholders in West Africa, to strengthen local sanitation markets, its Supply Director, Etleva Kadilli, said on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 in a statement in Abuja.
Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF. Photo credit: ctvnews.ca
Kadilli stated that the meeting was part of efforts to support 250 million people globally to abandon open defecation.
According to her, the meeting, which is ongoing in Abuja, is aimed at enabling 60 million people to gain access to at least basic sanitation service by 2021.
The meeting, which opened on Nov. 13, will end on Nov. 15.
The director stated that “the UNICEF meeting with industry, financial institutions, governments and development partners is to discuss how to shape healthy sanitation markets in the West and Central Africa Region.
“One of the key approaches in the UNICEF global strategy for water, sanitation and hygiene is to build sustainable markets for goods and services where supply meets demand.
“There is need for governments and development partners to work with global and local businesses to ensure that appropriate solutions are available and affordable to those who need them.”
Kadilli, who noted that 2.4 billion people worldwide do not use improved sanitation, stressed the need for consultation as important signals were urgently needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) sets targets.
She assured that UNICEF had been key custodian of SDG 6.2 and would work to achieve equitable access to sanitation and hygiene for all and to end open defecation by 2030.
She added that “open defecation is a life-threatening practice as contact with human waste can lead to diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio and diarrhea. Inadequate or non-existent sanitation causes tremendous harm.
“Everyday, 700 children under five years die from diarrhea related diseases.”
Ms Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, also noted that the level of open defecation in West and Central Africa accounted for 14 per cent of global open defecation.
Poirier specifically noted that in Nigeria alone, 46.5 million people practice open defecation, making it the second highest ranked country worldwide.
She added that “between 2008 and 2017, the creation of sanitation demand through ‘Community Approaches for Total Sanitation in West and Central Africa’ led to an increase of almost 25 million people living in open defecation-free communities.
“Despite this recent success, the current rate of progress is insufficient to eliminate open defecation by 2030.
“While UNICEF will continue to rely on proven strategies, new accelerators are needed to support local markets to deliver sustainable sanitation solutions at scale.
“Following the rise in demand for toilets, we will work with countries to enhance the engagement of the private sector to provide adequate and affordable sanitation products and services, including in isolated, often underserved rural areas.”
She says UNICEF has a long history of influencing markets and driving product innovation that has increased children’s access to essential commodities.
Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 reiterated the commitment of his administration to eradicate open defecation in the state.
Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State
He made this known in Akure when a team from Global Alliance, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) paid him a courtesy visit in Akure.
He explained that the commitment was part of ongoing efforts the state government was making in collaboration with the UN Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF).
The governor said “we know our shortcomings and we need to have consistent advocacy. A number of houses do not have toilets.
“Banks have assisted us to build boreholes in many areas of the state, while primary schools have modern toilets.
“We have also gone ahead to provide water to make sure that most of our villages have boreholes, and we have rehabilitated over 500 boreholes.”
Akeredolu, therefore, appealed to Federal Government to complete dams instead of leaving the reticulation of such dams to state governments.
He added that “if we continue to run our affairs disjointedly, we won’t get anywhere.”
Dr Brylyne Chitsunge, the Ambassador for Food Security in Africa, said that the visit was to see how the NGO could assist the state to combat food security.
Chitsunge explained that 440 hectares of land had been acquired to help Africa combat shortage of food.
According to her, global citizen concept will be hosting 100,000 people in South Africa to mark the centenary celebrations of late Nelson Mandela, where dignitaries will discuss global investment opportunities in different sectors.
She, therefore, invited Akeredolu to be part of the dignitaries.
Two talented and environmentally minded young people from India and Mexico, with their video reports on actions to fight climate change, have been selected as the winners of the 2018 Global Youth Video Competition on Climate Change.
Vikas Yadav from India and Andrea Sofia Rosales Vega from Mexico are winners of the 2018 Global Youth Video Competition on Climate Change
The winners, chosen through an online public vote, are Vikas Yadav, 20 years old, from India for the category “Green and climate friendly jobs” and Andrea Sofia Rosales Vega, 20, from Mexico for the category “Responsible production and consumption”.
They will travel to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland, in December and will work with the UN Climate Change’s Global Climate Action Team covering highlights of the meeting, reporting for a global youth audience. The winners will be recognised in a ceremony at the COP24 Action Hub on Thursday, December 6.
The video by Sofia Vega shows how we can clean up urban areas while also making a difference to people’s lives. Her video describes the “Eco Urban” project, which collects and re-uses waste, including plastic and old clothes, helping to clean up the streets. Selling products made from the recycled material raises funds, some of which are reinvested in collection centres, and 60 per cent of the income used to fight childhood cancer. As she says at the close of the video, the participants are “ordinary people, making our world extraordinary.”
In his three-minute entry, Vikas Yadav visits rural areas of India, where he reports that more than 70 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture. As food production is particularly sensitive to climate change, the farmers explain how innovative agriculture practices can play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaption. Vikas encourages people to “Go green” in moving towards more natural growing and management techniques.
“These two young people and their videos are encouraging examples of the global climate action needed to address climate change,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa. “I congratulate Sofia and Vikas, and I applaud all the entrants showcasing international youth’s essential response to climate change.”
Entries were received from over 100 countries, from Azerbaijan to Yemen, with young people between the ages of 18 and 30 submitting over 300 videos.
The competition was launched by UN Climate Change as part of its work on Action for Climate Empowerment, in partnership with tve (Television for the environment), the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme, which is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, and Connect4Climate, and supported by Fondation BNP Paribas and the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU).
Women’s groups from Asia Pacific are deeply concerned about the bill passed by the Government of Poland that will prevent any “spontaneous” public gathering of climate groups during COP24 and subject human rights defenders to state-led surveillance including access and storing all personal information.
The UNFCCC COP24 holds in Katowice, Poland
The bill, initiated by the government of Poland, is said to be setting a dangerous precedent that undermines human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, association and of speech, and the right to privacy in the context of digital technologies, multilateral process, and the role and importance of peoples’ organisations in fighting climate change.
Civil society organisations from the Global South say they see the bill as a deterrent to attend COP24, participate in the negotiations and organise people’s action that are crucial to raise civil society concerns while finalising the Paris Agreement.
“This clamp down on civil society space and freedom of expressions is a sign of increasing influence of the profit earning actors who do not want to change the system of exploitation that is leading to climate change. By closing spaces for voices of the people to come into global platforms like the COP, the profit-making exploitative industries and the States continue business as usual at the cost of the planet,” said APWLD member Banamallika Choudhury, NEThing, India.
Civil Society present at a pre-COP 24 session in September in Bangkok reportedly asked the Polish government about the bill and the right to peaceful assembly.
“When asked at the Inter-sessions, the incoming Polish presidency responded that the bill was enacted to solicit funding support for the COP24. This basically means that the global climate negotiations are resourced by the groups who want to suppress democratic and peaceful civil society organising. In addition, tying this bill to the visa application process is fundamentally discriminatory against women human rights and environmental defenders from the Global South who are most affected by climate change. Global solidarity is required to resist this tactic of oppression,” said Misun Woo, Regional Coordinator, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, Thailand.
According to the activists, the UN’s decision of working with “oppressive governments” like Poland violates the Paris Convention, UN principles on human rights and European Union’s Aarhus Convention and enables the increasing threats to environment and human rights defenders and shrinking civil society spaces.
“In a letter sent by APWLD to UNFCCC this month, we raised security and personal safety concerns that will be faced by civil society. The Polish government has still not disclosed what data will be screened and what will be labelled ‘spontaneous demonstration or gathering’. With previous experience of facing immigration screening and policing of civil society in COP19 Warsaw and the current provisions of Bill that subject everyone to undisclosed State surveillance, it is a grave concern for women from the Global South on personal and organisation levels who will likely to be subjected to such scrutiny,” they stressed.
The civil society organisations therefore demand the Polish government to give assurances by repealing the bill and that human rights will be protected at COP 24 including the right to assemble.
“We remind the Government of Poland to uphold their legal and human rights obligations as set out in the European Convention of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
No fewer than 33 million people in the Sahel are food insecure, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN Peacebuilding Commission have said.
Ibrahim Thiaw
The UN bodies, at a joint forum in New York, also said building climate resilience and peace, must go hand in hand for the region.
The forum said to build a sustainable peace in the Sahel, urgent attention was needed to mitigate the effects of climate change, and ensure that communities have access to enough opportunities
The UN Special Adviser on the Sahel, Ibrahim Thiaw, said: “The region consists of 10 different countries, totalling 300 million people.
“Currently, 33 million women, children and men are food insecure, while 4.7 million children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition.
“The Sahel is arguably one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. It is most likely the region with the largest number of people disproportionately affected by global warming”.
President of ECOSOC, Inga King, stressed that climate change was compounding the problem of the region.
“With rapid population growth estimated at 2.8 per cent per year in an environment of shrinking natural resources, including land and water resources, climate change in the Sahel can compound existing vulnerabilities.
“These risks generating new conflicts and forced migration, issues which already characterize the region. This situation requires our urgent attention,” King said.
Chair of the Peace building Commission, Ion Jinga, also regretted the impacts of climate change around the globe.
Jinga said: “Climate change impacts around the globe – including, desertification, droughts, floods and food insecurity – all pose grave threats to generations of human and development gains”.
He noted that, together, ECOSOC and the Peacebuilding Commission could support local initiatives through coordination of policies, building partnerships, resource mobilisation, and promotion of national ownership for projects implemented.
The joint meeting included local leaders invited to present their climate action initiatives to address their insecurity challenges.
Ahmed Diallo, Mayor of the city of Dori, in Burkina Faso, said “we are convinced that there are solutions, that with effort we can get out of this situation, and improve the current trends.
“This is because the youth that commit terrorist acts are often enrolled to do so, not so much by religious conviction, but due to a lack of opportunities.
“If a pastoralist can’t feed his animals because he doesn’t have food and he doesn’t have water, then he is going to look for other ways”.
Diallo gave examples of actions taken in his town to mitigate the effects of climate change including reforestation efforts, financial support to farmers, trainings for bee keepers, and cross-border cooperation with other countries’ municipalities to implement common projects.
