The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it had sensitised 208 communities in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State on sanitation and open defecation.
Mr George Bekimbo, UNICEF consultant in the state, disclosed on Tuesday, January 7, 2020 in Jos, the state capital, adding that the exercise was funded by the European Union (EU) under the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Project (WSSSRP).
The WSSSRP is being implemented in Plateau by the state’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (PRUWASSA).
Bekimbo said the training, tagged “Community-Led Total Sanitation”, was aimed at making communities take the lead in promoting sanitation and personal hygiene.
He said the programme was also aimed at discouraging open defecation and other acts that could expose them to communicable diseases.
The consultant explained that the exercise took place in August 2019.
“As part of the WSSSRP being funded by UNICEF and EU and implemented by PRUWASSA, we have sensitised 208 communities on sanitation and open defecation.
“It was an approach we used in ensuring that communities take the lead in promoting sanitation and fighting open defecation by themselves.
“The communities decided on the technology to use and how they intend to go about the exercise, we only facilitated the process and provided the funding.
“This is one of our biggest achievements so far in the locality and we are very pleased because it has started yielding positive results,” he said
By Polycarp Auta
