By Ahmed Ahmed
Bauchi Stakeholders have advocated for the provision of friendly public toilets for females and Persons Living With Disabilities (PWDs) to enable them have easy access to conveniences in the state.
Our correspondent reports that the stakeholders are Civil Society Organisations, Govt. officials from Rural Water Agency, Environment Protection Agency, Ministry of Environment, Toilets Operators, Leaders from Market, Motorparks, Women leaders, People With Disability, WASH Media Network among others.
They made the call at the one day Impact Accelerator Prototyping workshop, organized by Wateraid incolabration with Bauchi State Government with funding from Australia donor known as “Who Gives a Crap” on Thursday in Bauchi.
The stakeholders stressed that public toilets in motor parks, markets and worship places should have women friendly toilets facilities that would also be used by PWDs, who may visit the facilities with wheelchairs.
Mr Mashat Mallo, Programme Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer, WaterAid Nigeria in Bauchi said the workshop was aimed at validating and coming up with ideas to address the problems and issues reflected at the recent assessment of public toilets
Recently stakeholders conducted an accessibility and safety audit and mapped out public toilets in the state
"To come up with an improved design of public toilets, particularly for women and girls to ensure that they are safe, accessible as well as cater for their menstrual hygiene management," he said.
On his part Alhaji Mohammed Usman Saleh, Director, Inspection and enforcement with Bauchi state Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA) noted that most of public toilets facilities doesn't accommodate women and the PWDs
He recommended that a flat platform should be constructed to allow everyone to have access including women and PWDs.
" Also Improve environmental sanitation of the facility and keep off unauthorized persons from the facilities.
"Reduce the height of the steps and expand the width between the external wall and the compartment entrance to enable wheelchair access," he said.
Also Speaking, Malam Abubakar Usman, Toilet Business Operator, has called on the government to support the operators to provide high-quality public toilets with women’s requirements to alleviate the problem of female harassment.
He said the authorities need to act now to ensure the safety and well-being of all women and indeed other marginalized groups in the Society.
On his part, Mr David Ayodele, Chairman Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Media Network in Bauchi urged the relevant government agencies to constantly monitor public toilets to ensure proper maintenance of the facilities.
"To also ensure that the toilet facilities have access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene – particularly for women and PWDs who bear the brunt of the burden caused by a lack of access to these basic and life-saving services.
“There is an urgent need to address the lack of adequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, particularly in public places in cities," he said.
A Consultant with Wateraid Nigeria, Engineer Ojelabe Mayokun in his presentation emphasizes designing friendly toilets for women and PWDs to enable them feel confident, safe, and dignified while managing their daily sanitation needs.
"The need for female friendly toilets fully separated from men for safety and privacy, as well as provision of menstrual waste disposal capacity and drainages," he said.
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