By Sani Idris Abdulrahman
An NGO, Carelink Resource Foundation (CRF), has called for urgent and sustained action to ensure every Nigerian child has access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services.
The foundation made the call in a statement signed by its Director of Programmes, Mr Silas Ideva in Kaduna on Tuesday to commemorate the 2026 Day of the African Child (DAC).
Established in 1991 by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU) the day is to celebrate African children.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that DAC is annually marked on June 16 to honor the memory of the 1976 Soweto Uprising in South Africa, where thousands of black students protested against poor education and imposition of Afrikaans in schools.
The protests were met with violent suppression, resulting in more than 170 deaths, including children as young as 12, and hundreds of injuries.
The 2026 edition of the commemoration has “Ensuring Universal Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Every Child in Africa.”
The CRF director, therefore, stated that safe water, sanitation and hygiene were fundamental rights and critical to child survival, nutrition, education and dignity.
He noted that in spite of progress recorded in the sector, millions of Nigerian children, particularly in rural communities, still lacked access to basic WASH services.
He added that findings from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2018) shows
about 73 per cent of households had access to improved drinking water sources in 2018.
He said that by 2024, access to basic drinking water services stood at 70.5 per cent nationally.
The CRF official said rural access remained significantly lower at 55.9 per cent, leaving many children vulnerable to waterborne diseases.
Ideva also said that open defecation declined from about 25 per cent of households in 2018 to 19.9 per cent in 2024.
He, however, noted that rural communities continued to bear the greatest burden of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions.
The programme director said lessons from CRF’s Global Fund-supported interventions under ACOMIN in Kudan and Igabi local government areas of Kaduna State highlighted persistent WASH challenges.
He identified contaminated water sources, poor sanitation facilities and weak maintenance systems as major concerns affecting communities.
According to him, while hygiene promotion and improved access to boreholes benefit residents, sustainability remains threatened by inadequate maintenance financing.
He commended the Kaduna State Government for its commitment to improving WASH services through budgetary allocations, noting that the state earmarked about N9.29 billion for WASH-related interventions in its 2026 budget.
The allocation, he said, included N7 billion for water, sanitation and hygiene programmes and N1.95 billion for construction of water facilities.
He, however, stressed the need for stronger budget utilisation, transparency, accountability and equitable implementation.
Ideva urged governments, development partners and stakeholders to prioritise underserved communities and strengthen maintenance systems.
He also called for expanded school WASH services and wider adoption of Community-Led Total Sanitation approaches.
“Every child deserves safe water, dignified sanitation and a healthy environment to survive and thrive,” he said.
According to him, investment in WASH is an investment in child survival, education, nutrition, dignity and Nigeria’s future human capital.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu
