European Union, UNICEF sign agreement to implement water and sanitation projects in Nigeria

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have entered into an agreement to implement water and sanitation projects in four states of Nigeria.

Under the five-year agreement, the EU will provide NGN3bn ($18.75m) to UNICEF to support rural water and sanitation projects in the states of Adamawa, Ekiti and Plateau, reported punchng.com.

The projects will be carried out as part of the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Project, Phase III (WSSSRP III), implemented by the UNICEF.

The WSSSRP III programme has been designed to increase and strengthen the capacity of rural water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector institutions in the states.

The project is expected to support sector governance and improve access to better and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services to the residents of the rural communities in the three states.

EU Nigeria Delegation Operations head Pierre Philippe was quoted by the publication as saying that the union has reserved about NGN40bn ($252.5m) for the water and sanitation sector in Nigeria for a period between 2012 and 2017.

In December 2012, the EU and UNICEF signed a five-year agreement to support water supply and sanitation projects in five states in Nigeria: Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Rivers, for a cost of NGN5bn ($31.6m).

The rural water and sanitation project aims to provide safe drinking water supply and sanitation services along with other basic social services for about 1.4 million residents in the Nigerian states.

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Image: The water and sanitation projects funded by the EU and implemented by UNICEF will improve access to safe water in rural communities of Nigeria. Photo: Courtesy of DFID – UK Department for International Development.