Easy access to water promotes school attendance in Nigeria

In Nigeria, around 69 million people do not have access to safe water. Many children spend hours every day walking to collect water, sometimes missing out on a chance to go to school.

For some, this daily routine to collect water can take over their lives.

However, when children have access to safe water close to home, they have a chance to go to school, play with friends and have a childhood.

With the installation of handpump boreholes by UNICEF in schools and communities, more children now attend classes.

In Ekan primary school, Plateau State, children are now more excited to attend school because they have access to clean water.

Children in Local Government Education Authority primary school in Plateau State do not have to walk far to get water anymore. There is a handpump borehole in their school provided by UNICEF with funding from the European Union.

Access to water is also enabling school attendance for girls. In Kambara village, Kano state, access to clean water for drinking and handwashing, and the availability of latrines give parents the confidence to send their daughters to school.

’I had friends who could not attend school because their parents did not allow them. This was because there was no water and toilet in school,’’ says 12-year-old Suwaiba Yau, a class 6 pupil at Gora Galadima Kambara Primary school, Kano State.

Excited about the intervention in her school, she says ‘’the conditions are good for learning because water is close by, and the latrines are near. The water is also safe for drinking and there is no fear of cholera or diarrhea.’’

In Cross River State, schoolgirls do not have to miss school anymore. They can now get clean water near their homes from the handpump borehole provided by UNICEF with funds from the European Union.

When there is easy access to water, girls have the chance to stay in school and learn!

UNICEF is supporting the Federal Government of Nigeria to provide safe water to children and families living in some of the most under-served areas in Nigeria.

In 2017, UNICEF provided access to safe water to 2.2 million people in rural Nigeria, thanks to funding from the European Union and UKAid.