The World Bank has approved a $700million credit for Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme (SURWASH), in Nigeria.

According to a statement by the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, the fund seeks to improve Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services to 2,000 schools and Health Care Facilities and also assist 500 communities to achieve open defecation free status.

The credit will provide six million people with basic drinking water services and 1.4 million people access to improved sanitation services in the country.

Chaudhuri said participating states will be able to improve access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene,  adding that the programme’s contribution to the human capital agenda and its potential to influence key human capital outcomes could not be overemphasized.

These would be implemented as part of the Federal Government’s National Action Plan (NAP) for the revitalization of Nigeria’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector.

The World Bank recalled that in 2019, 60 million Nigerians lived without access to basic drinking water services, 80 million without access to improved sanitation facilities and 167 million without access to a basic hand-washing facility.

It also observed that the Nigerian government, in recent years, strengthened its commitment toward improving access to WASH services.

The programme would support NAP which was a 13-year strategy prioritizing action within three phases.

They are Emergency Plan, Recovery Plan and Revitalization Strategy and the Clean Nigeria; Use the Toilet Campaign which aims to have Nigeria free of open defecation by 2025.

This plan is to keep more girls in school, create employment and reduce open defecation, while developing greater resilience to the impact of climate change and conflicts between land and water users.