TheCable

The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) says governments at all levels and private sector players should invest more resources in ensuring access to clean water.

According to a statement made available by the foundation, improved investments in water provision will boost the health of citizens and tackle malnutrition.

Zouera Youssoufou, managing director of the foundation, made this call ahead of the World Water Week holding in Stockholm, Sweden between August 26 and 31, with the theme, ‘Water, ecosystem and human development’.

It also follows the recent declaration of emergency on the water and sanitation sector by the federal government.

Speaking on the water component of the ADF Nutrition Programme, the Foundation’s CEO said, “Within our flagship nutrition programme we have a substantial Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) component. We cannot be effective at fighting malnutrition if we don’t also provide clean drinking water to our beneficiaries.”

“We have a global water challenge, which is what SDG 6 is focused on solving. Achieving SDG 6 is essential for progress on all other SDGs and vice versa. Sustainable management of water and sanitation underpins wider efforts to end poverty, advance sustainable development and sustain peace and stability. We all have a part to play as government, private sector, development partners and individuals.

In 2016, the Aliko Dangote Foundation launched a $100 million nutrition programme with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. ADF is focused on Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM), reaching on the most severely malnourished children through the Primary Healthcare System.

This intervention includes treating affected children with Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF), combined with household level empowerment programmes to enable the parents improve their livelihoods. BMGF’s focus is on Fortification and Behaviour Change Communication.

Aliko Dangote, the foundation’s founder, announced the new flagship programme for the Foundation, the US$100 million Aliko Dangote Foundation Integrated Nutrition (ADFIN) programme at the 2017 UN Global Nutrition Summit in Milan.

“We recognise nutrition as a cross-cutting issue which affects other critical development goals, that is why nutrition has become our core focus. We want to reach one million malnourished children in Nigeria by 2021 and we know that for every dollar invested in nutrition, the nation as a whole will reap huge economic dividends,” said Aliko Dangote.