News
In Tanzania, 27 Million people now have access to improved water services.
Access to basic and safely managed water services in Tanzania has improved, according to a new report released on Thursday this week by the World Health Organization, WHO, and UNICEF.
According to the report, in Tanzania, 1 in 2 people, or 27 Million Tanzanians have access to basic water services – that are within a 30-minute round trip collection time including queuing.
However, progress on sanitation and hygiene has been slow as 63% of Tanzanians still have no access to improved sanitation.
Worldwide some 3 in 10 people or 2.1 billion, lack access to safe, readily available water at home and 6 in 10, or 4.4 billion, lack safely managed sanitation.
The Joint Monitoring Programme report, Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and Sustainable Development Goal Baselines, presents the first global assessment of “safely managed” drinking water and sanitation services.
Poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services continues to impact child survival and health
Globally, the report shows that billions of people have gained access to basic drinking water and sanitation services since 2000, but these services do not necessarily provide safe water and sanitation. Many homes, healthcare facilities and schools still lack soap and water for handwashing. This puts the health of all people – especially young children – at risk for diseases, such as diarrhea.
As a result, every year, globally 361 000 children under 5 years die due to diarrhea. Poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services continues to impact child survival and health. In Tanzania 8% of deaths of children under 5 is caused by preventable diarrhea.
“Not only are poor hygiene, open defecation, and lack of access to safe water and sanitation systems leading causes of child illness and death, they contribute to undernutrition and stunting, and act as barriers to education for girls and to economic opportunity for the poor” said Maniza Zaman, UNICEF Representative in Tanzania. “This new data is a reality check and shows stark inequities, including in Tanzania, in terms of who benefit from safe water and sanitation services. It is a call to spark a truly national movement for water, sanitation and hygiene so that everyone is reached especially the under-served areas, poorest communities and the most vulnerable children, including children with disabilities,” she added.
The report further reveals that inequalities still exist between rural and urban communities. In Tanzania for example only 37% of rural dwellers have access to improved basic water services (within 30 minutes round trip walk) as compared to 80% of urban dwellers.
Speaking on the importance of water and sanitation for good health, Dr. Matthieu Kamwa, WHO Representative in Tanzania said, “Availability of safe water supply and adequate sanitation contributes immensely to improved quality of life and productivity for sustainable development. The SDG 6 calls for ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. It’s a noble plea to ascertain that no one is left behind as an important principal for achieving each of the SDGs”.
There has never been a more urgent time to advocate for the right to water, sanitation and hygiene for all citizens and especially for our children. Data driven investments, partnerships, sound interventions and stronger accountability for results is needed so that this basic right becomes a reality for all.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has made headlines by announcing a further reduction in the price of diesel, dropping it from ₦1200 to ₦1000 naira per litre.
The refinery’s decision comes on the heels of its recent supply at a significantly reduced price of ₦1200 per litre, which was introduced three weeks ago, signifying a remarkable 30 per cent decrease from the previous market price of approximately ₦1600 per litre.
This substantial reduction in diesel prices at Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expected to reiterate positively throughout various sectors of the economy, potentially serving as a catalyst in alleviating the persistently high inflation rate in the country.
In a statement last week, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual and the owner of the refinery, expressed his optimism regarding the potential impact of the price reduction on inflation in Nigeria.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient, and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about ₦1900,” he remarked.
As anticipation builds around the implications of this move by Dangote Petroleum Refinery, stakeholders and consumers alike remain hopeful for the positive effects it could bring to the Nigerian economy in the coming months.
More than 50,000 Russian military personnel have died during the Ukraine conflict, the BBC reported Wednesday, citing its own reporters, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers.
They found that more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died during the second year of the war, a 25-percent increase on the first year.
BBC Russian, Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, using open-source information from official reports and the media, as well as using satellite images of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.
The figure of more than 50,000 is eight times higher than the official toll acknowledged by Moscow in September 2022. It does not include deaths of militia in Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine said in February that it had lost 31,000 soldiers, but that figure is also likely to be significantly lower than the true toll.
Russian losses spiked in January 2023 as it launched a large-scale offensive in Donetsk and again months later last year during the battle for the city of Bakhmut.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” at dawn on February 24, 2022, which has since turned into a bloody and attritional war, isolating Russia from the Western world.
Responding to the report, the Kremlin said it did not disclose any information on military deaths and casualties, which falls under the remit of the defence ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added official secrets laws and those covering what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine meant it was “absolutely understandable” that the ministry did not release the figures.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has disclosed that 95 million Nigerians need to enroll for the National Identification Number (NIN) to meet its target of 200 million enrollments by 2025.
Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at NIMC, emphasised the importance of this enrollment during an interview on X over the weekend.
He stated, “For NIMC to meet the 200 million target by 2025, 95 million Nigerians need to register for the NIN.”
Adegoke revealed that over 105 million NINs have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents so far.
He assured Nigerians of the commission’s commitment, saying, “We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians.”
“The NIN serves as a unique identifier for each citizen and has become increasingly important for various government initiatives aimed at improving security, governance, and service delivery.”
Adegoke highlighted the efforts to streamline the modification and enrollment processes under the leadership of Abisoye Coker, the director-general of NIMC. He announced the development of a self-service platform, allowing Nigerians to make necessary modifications such as changing names, dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers from anywhere, using different devices.
Emphasising the convenience of the self-service modification portal, Adegoke encouraged Nigerians to utilize this innovative solution.
He noted the evolution of the process, citing the past requirement for applicants to visit NIMC offices for data corrections.
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