By Suzan Edeh, Bauchi
Stakeholders in the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Sector in Bauchi State have been charged to ensure accountability, transparency,equity and procurement for the implementation of WASH Project.
The call was made during a two day training for WASH Sector Stakeholders organized by the Women Development Association for Self Sustenance (WODASS), with support from WaterAid held at the Hazibal Hotel and Suites Bauchi.
A WaterAid Consultant, Dr Bello Mummuni Munza while making a presentation during the training, said that the principles of transparency,equity and procurement are fundamental to ensuring effective, sustainable and inclusive Water Sanitation and Hygiene(WASH) services, stressing that these principles ensure that WASH programs are inclusive, fair and effectively managed, benefiting to all stakeholders, particularly marginalized and vulnerable populations.
According to him, accountability in WASH ensures that WASH service providers, government and stakeholders are answerable for their actions and commitments which involves mechanisms for feedbacks, redress and enforcement of responsibilities.
Regarding National Water and Sanitation Policies, Dr Bello said that WASH Policies should include key aspects by ensuring that all citizens, including marginalized groups have access to safe water and Sanitation, empowering local governments to manage WASH services effectively, integrating climate resilience and water resource management, including funding model to support infrastructure development, setting targets and indicators to track progress.
The Consultant urged Civil Society Organizations and Community Based Organizations to hold government accountable for WASH rights, engage local populations in WASH planning, track service delivery and reporting gaps.
He said that governments should ensure that no one is left behind in access to clean water and Sanitation by ensuring a strong legal and policy framework as well as adopting rights -based approaches and inclusive regulations.
Speaking on applying Quality Programme Standards, a WaterAid Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Ella Williams said that it is important that all staff involved in project planning, monitoring and evaluation have a good understanding of the QPS and how to apply them, pointing out that all work funded by WaterAid must meet the QPS standards in order to avoid creating high-risk situations that endanger lives or seriously damage WaterAid reputation and ability to access funding.
He said that WaterAid ensures that the principle of ‘Do No Harm(Safeguarding) is applied to all phases of design and delivery of projects and robust measures are in place to mitigate against any risks of harm to user groups, community members and project participants, particularly women, children and vulnerable people as well as WaterAid partners and all personnel and representatives in-line with WaterAid safeguarding policies and procedures.