How Katagum achieved ODF – Local Govt. WASH Unit Coordinator

From Paul Orude Bauchi

The Coordinator of Water, Sanitation and Health (WASH) Unit in Katagum, Bauchi State, Mr Saidu Mohammed Alkali, has given insights on how the Local Government Area was certified Open Defecation Free (ODF).

Katagum joined Dass, Warji, Gamawa, Ganjuwa, Shira, Bogoro and Toro as the eighth Local Government Areas out of 20 in the state to be certified ODF.

Mohammad made the disclosure in Azare at a Media Dialogue organized by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field office, to commemorate World Toilet Day every November 19.

WASH Unit Coordinator for Katagum, Saidu Mohammed Alkali,speaks on ODF achievement by the L.G.A.

 He said the feat was achieved due to massive community mobilization that brought together many stakeholders to raise people’s awareness of and demand for ODF.

With establishment of WASH Committees also known as WASHCOM , through UNICEF interventions, communities in Katagum were mobilised on the dangers of open defecation, he said.

He said mobilisation was done through a joint effort of UNICEF, Bauchi State Rural Water Supply Agency (RUWASSA), Katagum WASHUNIT and other stakeholders and. the community as a whole using several strategies

“The first was the community – led total sanitation (CLTS) approach,” he revealed.

“The CLTS approach was to facilitate the communities to conduct their own appraisal and analysis of open defecation.

“People were mobilized to identity and find solution to their sanitation and hygiene need”

Mr Umar Shira, UNICEF Focal person for BRC speaks to participants at the Media Dialogue in Jamil Suites, Azare

He said the CLTS approach was a driving force that ensured ODF in Katagum.

“It focuses on behavioral change needed to ensure real and sustainable improvements-investing in community mobilization instead of hardware, and shifting the focus from toilet construction for individual households to the creation of open defecation free communities,” he stated.

According to him, the CLTS approach also raised awareness that even if a minority of people continued to defecate in the open everyone was at risk of disease. 

The approach was result-oriented in that it used participatory methodologies and processes, including mapping and transect walk, to facility communities to analysis their own sanitation practice and fecal oral pathways, the WASH Unit Chairman stated.

“During this process, called Triggering, communities came to the realization they were eating each other’s faeces in the communities thereby taking action to become open defecation free,” he said.

“CLTs triggered communities’ desire for collective change, propelled the people of Katagum into action and encouraged innovation, mutual support and appropriate local solution”

As a result of the mobilisation, people in the communities took greater ownership and sustainability.

“They were engaged through the establishment of a WASH committee (WASHCOM) and training of its members on their roles and management of water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities,” he disclosed.

The community members were trained to ensure ownership and sustainability of WASH interventions as well as the disease causing pathogens that originate from fasces which can passed from an infected person to a healthy person via various routes, he added.

Muhammad explained that systematic and planned hygiene promotion were  also done in practical ways to enable people to take action to prevent water, sanitation, and hygiene related diseases to facilitate community participation and accountability.

“During hygiene promotion community leaders, traditional leaders, and opinion leader that included women, youth group, WASHCOM and other state holders in the community met and a cluster of 20 house hold was made,” he said.

The clusters were overseen by volunteer hygiene proprietors for action on hygiene related issues such as domains of hygiene, effective hand washing, critical times of hand washing, among other, he added.

To ensure safe water, awareness campaigns were carried out in communities on clear concept of what constituted ‘safe’ drinking water if they had been exposed to poor quality water in the past

“The water chain – the water source, transport and point of use –were the target of awareness creation,” he said.

“At the end a test for microbial contamination was made using H2s vial which indicated if there was contamination in the water or not”

The campaigns for water, sanitation and hygiene in schools (WASA) were done with focus on the development of life skills.

“The mobilization and involvement of parents, communities, governments and institutions to work together to improve hygiene, water and sanitation condition in order to ensure open defecation free communities,” he said

“It focused on improving WASH in schools so as to ensure good health of students to fight the spread of infectious diseases”

Dr Clement Adams, the Officer-in-Charge, UNICEF, Bauchi Field office,believes the attainment of open-defecation-free status by Katagum was a testament that “when we work together, we can achieve great strides”

“In Nigeria, about 48 million people still defecate in the open – mostly in the rural areas. This bears severe socio-economic losses for the country,” he revealed.

“The achievement in Katagum LGA needs to be replicated across the country.

“Out of 774 LGAs in the country, only 105 have been validated ODF”.

Commissioner for Water Resources, Honourable Nuhu Zaki, assured that the state government was determined to work for the actualization of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2 target and overall the attainment of state wide ODF by 2025.