The role of entrepreneurs in provision and sustainable operations of sanitation facilities in public places in Nigeria

Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria are primarily responsible for provision of sanitation facilities in public places. Most markets and motor parks however are either without any sanitation facilities or are in dilapidated conditions because of misuse and neglect. This leads to rampant open defecation (OD) in public places. This has deprived many LGAs to attain the ODF status where otherwise every household have constructed some sort of toilets as a result of ongoing CLTS campaign. Under Federal Government of Nigeria-UNICEF WASH programme, efforts have been made to address the challenge through public- private partnership (PPP) arrangements. In selected LGAs of 3 States one hundred (100) WASH facilities are planned for completion in 2018 in markets/motor parks to bring the LGA wide ODF declaration one step closer to reality

Sustaining open defecation free status: the vital role of validation exercise

UNICEF-Nigeria in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) and key stakeholders is implementing Community-Led Total sanitation (CLTS) to accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas with good success. Over 8,400 communities have been certified Open Defecation Free (ODF) across 21 States. Sustaining ODF status has never been so important to consolidate the initial success and moving up the sanitation ladder. 10% of randomly selected ODF certified communities are considered for the validation exercise. This exercise has reduced ODF relapse rates from 44% in 2014 to 11% in 2016. This has further improved the quality of CLTS facilitation and an increase in improved latrines. The resources spent on the validation exercise (US$6.4 per community) is much less than the funds (US$ 197) required to get the relapsed communities back to ODF

Asset creation versus sustaining services: institutionalizing VLOM to deliver SDG-6.1 target in Nigeria

Despite investments in water supply infrastructure, functionality remains low owing to a variety of factors including poor Operation & Maintenance regime and low community ownership. To overcome these challenges, a robust Village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM) approach was piloted. The approach is institutionalized within the State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agencies (RUWASSAs) by shifting agencies’ focus from mere asset creation towards sustained service delivery. The VLOM units established in the twelve RUWASSAs work with trained local area mechanics (LAMs), parts dealers and community caretakers towards ensuring 100% functionality of schemes. The LAMs charge communities for their services against agreed rates. This is linked to the Facility Tracking System resulting in 11% increase in functionality since inception of the pilot project. Once scaled up and sustained, this approach will optimize investments needed to achieve WASH SDG-6.1 target in Nigeria

Ensuring sustainability and improving functionality of water supply facilities through VLOM in Nigeria – from pilot to national strategy

It is estimated that by 2030 only 72% of the rural population in Nigeria will have access to improved water supply. Alarmingly however are the high estimates (~50%) of nonfunctional rural hand pumps at any given time. Achieving the SDG targets will not only require huge investment in extending the improved water coverage to currently unserved but more importantly current investments in hand pump boreholes must be sustained. From the experience of the pilot project carried out by UNICEF and Tulsi Chanrai Foundation, 80% of the non-functional hand pumps were found to be repairable and state and local government service providers able to transform their O&M culture to ensure functionality at or above 90% at any given time. The challenge for Nigeria therefore lies in affecting a national VLOM strategy and to ensure its meticulous implementation

Promoting entrepreneurship and affordable financing for uptake of improved toilets in Nigeria

Meeting the SDG targets on Sanitation in Nigeria requires households to construct over 2.4 million improved toilets every year up to 2030, which is a 15-fold increase in the current rate of latrine uptake. Hence business as usual is not an option for the country in the run up to 2030. Markets forces must be mobilized. The two-pronged strategy deployed in Nigeria addresses the issue of markets as well as affordable finances. Toilet Business Owners (TBOs) are trained and mobilized as successful for-profit enterprises by the existing public-sector enterprise development agencies while cheaper financing is being mobilized from both Public and private/commercial sources through local MFIs and community saving groups. This approach has led to the construction of 4650 improved toilets in 06 Local Government Areas of Nigeria and holds promise for the future

Low income housing project Peshawar

Low income housing project Peshawa

Benefit monitoring and evaluation of urban water supplies

It is sometimes worth stating the obvious. "Projects which are developed to suit the institutional capacity of the managing organizations stand better chances of sustainability and effective utilization by its customers." Conversely institutional capacity of organizations require enhancement if they are to manage projects which are unmanageable with their existing setup. Either of these two arguments is to be satisfied for effective and efficient operation and maintenance of systems. Not understanding the obvious is hallmark of our infrastructure planning, design, implementation and operation and maintenance strategies. Even if it is really understood by our infrastructure planners then why the obvious gets blurred while transforming from paper to reality in a project cycle? In the specific context of the PMU, this study provide some "food for thought" for identifying the reasons for not realizing the obvious

The crystal structure of a valinomycin•2Ca²⁺ complex and the multi-step solution equilibria in acetonitrile characterised by ¹H NMR, UV–Vis, and mass spectrometry

<p>Valinomycin is a well-known potassium-selective ion carrier, but the nature of its direct interaction with calcium ion, another biologically important cation, is also of considerable interest. We have determined the first crystal structure of a valinomycin–calcium complex, which crystallises exclusively as a 1:2 valinomycin:Ca²⁺ complex, [VCa₂(OTf)₂(H₂O)₂]²⁺ in the solid state (V = valinomycin, OTf = triflate). Along with the 1:2 complex, the solution phase 1:1 and 2:1 complexes have been characterised in acetonitrile by ¹H NMR and UV–Vis titration experiments. The molar absorptivity curves and binding equilibrium constants for these complexes have been determined by the global analysis of the UV–Vis titration data using the program SIVVU™.</p