FG will mobilize resources to ensure the right to water for all citizens, says Water Resources Minister.

[FMINigeria]

                        The Federal Government will continue to sustain efforts to mobilize resources at all levels of government, donor agencies and the private sectors towards ensuring full implementation of the rights to water in the country.

The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe disclosed this at a round table meeting with the theme, "The effective implementation of the right to Water – The financing, the roles and responsibilities of the actors", organized by the French Embassy and  French Development Agency in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Water Resources, held in Abuja.

The Minister said that the policies and strategies developed at the national level were based on the right to water approach, adding that the right to water and sanitation requires they are available, accessible, safe and affordable for all citizenry without discrimination.

The Minister maintained that the rights to water and sanitation further requires an explicit focus on the disadvantaged and marginalized in the society as well as emphasis on participation, empowerment, accountability and transparency.

Speaking on UN resolutions on the right to water, Mrs. Ochekpe said, in July 2010, following many years of discussion, 122 countries including Nigeria formally acknowledged the "right to water" at the United Nations General Assembly, resolution A/64/292.

Two month later, in September, 2010, UN Human Rights Council adopted a binding resolution recognizing that the human right to water and sanitation are part of the right to an adequate standard of living.

In Nigeria, the Minister said that the National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy  approved in 2000 even before the UN right to water contained components of right to water, which include, increase service coverage for water and sanitation to meet the socio-economic demand, ensure  water quality standards are maintained, ensure affordability of water supply and sanitation service by all citizenry as well as to enhance national capacity in the operation and management of water supply and sanitation.  She therefore urged States and Local Governments to adopt this right–based approach in formulating their water policies, law and strategies in order to enhance the human rights to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

The Minister seized the occasion to clear misconception concerning right to water; she said, "The right does not entitle people to free water but affordable water and sanitation services, the right also does not allow for unlimited use of water but sufficient water for personal and domestic uses in a sustainable manner, the right does not entitle everyone to household connection but the water and sanitation facilities need to be within or in the immediate vicinity of household".

Ochekpe further said that the Ministry was in the process of completing National Water Resources Bill that would provide equitable, beneficial and sustainable development, management and conservation of surface and ground water resources which if passed into law would further strengthen the implementation of right to water in Nigeria.

In his remarks, the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Jacques Champagne De Labriolle said that to implement the right to water effectively, it would require strong political will, commitment, clear strategies and financial mobilization from both the State and local levels.

He added that it was necessary to address the issue of management and preservation of water resources shared between several countries as part of strategy for implementation of the right to water.

The event brought together major stakeholders in the water sectors – representatives of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, regulatory commissions, and regional and national water authorities, research institutes, academia, NGOs and donor agencies.

Via: Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria