UNICEF, China Eximbank partner to improve WASH services in Nigeria

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the China Exim Bank, have entered into partnership to strengthen Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services for vulnerable children in Nigeria.

UNICEF said the intervention is expected to enable 110 million children in 12 healthcare facilities, 21 schools, 17 markets and 450 communities in several states in Nigeria, including the FCT, to have access to improved basic WASH services.

UNICEF Office in Nigeria, in a statement, indicated that the partnership (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed at China EXIM’s office in Beijing, China, following a meeting with the China Exim Bank Vice President, Yang Dongning; UNICEF Representative to China, Amakobe Sande and witnessed by Mr. Jimmy Patrick Ebi, the acting Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of Nigeria to China.

The MoU highlighted UNICEF’s role as a trusted partner for multilateral development banks and other financial institutions,.supporting them to have a greater social impact for children.

UNICEF Representative to China, Amakobe Sande, expressed the agency’s gratitude to China Exim Bank for the partnership, looking forward to collaborative efforts to reduce the risk of waterborne diseases and improve critical services that ensure the wellbeing of children.

She said that UNICEF also hopes that the partnership would be the first of more opportunities to come, to help accelerate child health and development goals for children around the world.

UNICEF Country Representative, Cristian Munduate, said that waterborne diseases pose a serious and ongoing risk to the lives and well-being of children in Nigeria. “This programme will help realise the rights of many thousands of children by improving healthcare services in Nigeria.”

She noted that UNICEF Nigeria was working to ensure that more children and their families have equitable access to climate-resilient and safely managed water and sanitation facilities and practise safe hygiene behaviours.

She said the partnership with China Exim Bank would include the scale-up of quality and comprehensive primary healthcare services, including maternal and newborn care and immunisation services, in facilities and communities.

Additionally, it will also expand access to services through community engagement, social mobilisation and behaviour change, along with strengthening WASH-related systems, capacity and institutions.

She further stated that together, UNICEF and China Exim would mobilise financial resources to support children, provide technical expertise in programming implementation and financing; explore innovative financing, and promote local procurement, capacity building and knowledge sharing.

She also noted that UNICEF, globally, is deeply committed to mobilising financial resources and exploring innovative financing solutions to support children in humanitarian emergencies and in some of the least developed countries around the world.