{"id":61346,"date":"2025-02-16T09:59:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T09:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=61346"},"modified":"2025-02-16T09:59:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T09:59:33","slug":"pasa-calls-for-urgent-sanitation-reforms-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/02\/16\/pasa-calls-for-urgent-sanitation-reforms-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"PASA Calls for Urgent Sanitation Reforms in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Ade Iyamoye\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Pan-African Association of Sanitation Actors (PASA), has called on African governments to prioritize sanitation and hygiene to combat health risks associated with inadequate facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Executive Secretary Kitch Bawa highlighted ongoing initiatives in 25 countries aimed at enhancing waste management systems and announced the upcoming &#8220;One City, One Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant&#8221; initiative, set to launch in Kampala, Uganda, during the Mayors and Local Authorities Forum at the African Water and Sanitation Association (AFWASA) Congress on February 18.<\/p>\n<p>Bawa expressed concern over the mismanagement of fecal sludge treatment plants in several African nations, emphasizing the need for climate-resilient sanitation infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>He also addressed the pressing issue of open defecation, noting that approximately 208 million people in Africa still practice it, posing significant health hazards.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Simeon Kenfack, Director of Programmes at AFWASA, underscored the necessity for robust sanitation policies and oversight.<\/p>\n<p>He cited Senegal as a model for effective sanitation strategies and revealed that AFWASA is mentoring five other nations to adopt similar approaches.<\/p>\n<p>Kenfack also highlighted the critical role of media in influencing public policy and behavior, advocating for collaboration to improve sanitation conditions across the continent.<\/p>\n<p>A joint report by WHO and UNICEF indicates that as of 2022, only 31% of Africa&#8217;s population had access to safely managed sanitation, with 28% having basic hygiene services.<\/p>\n<p>Alarmingly, 779 million people lack basic sanitation, including those practicing open defecation.<\/p>\n<p>Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to water and sanitation in Africa will require a dramatic acceleration in current progress rates.<\/p>\n<p>PASA and AFWASA are committed to addressing these challenges by enhancing public health and improving the quality of life in African communities through strategic initiatives and partnerships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ade Iyamoye\u00a0 The Pan-African Association of Sanitation Actors (PASA), has called on African governments to prioritize sanitation and hygiene to combat health risks associated with inadequate facilities. Executive Secretary Kitch Bawa highlighted ongoing initiatives in 25 countries aimed at enhancing waste management systems and announced the upcoming &#8220;One City, One Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant&#8221; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":61347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-61346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61346"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61348,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61346\/revisions\/61348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}