The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) of Ibadan, Nigeria, marked its 175th anniversary (Founders’ Day Celebration)/YMCA World Challenge 2019 early in June, with speakers underscoring the need to ensure proper hygiene in order to guarantee sound health.
At the event themed ‘Environmental Hygiene, Clean Water and Good Sanitation in 175 Minutes’, David Olugbade Fakeye, YMCA president, said the World Challenge is YMCA’s annual event to mobilise the association movements to share their great impact with local communities.
This year, the association embarked on community development advocacy on hygiene and good sanitation at Gege Olopa, one of the dirtiest communities in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The YMCA members focused group discussions on environmental hygiene, clean water and good sanitation, 175-minute community engagement, clean-up and fumigation, road show and sensitisation, free clean water supply, free medical supplies, free distribution of mosquito nets, etc.
Funminiyi Fagbemi, YMCA general secretary, said at the community sensitisation rally that the objectives of the programme were to transfer knowledge and understanding of hygiene and associated health risks in order to help people change their behaviour to use better hygiene practices and empower the community that will demand and achieve sustainable access to and use of safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene living condition.
The objectives also include engaging policymakers and key actors to promote and enable the sustainable realisation of the rights to water and sanitation through their policies, programmes and budget allocations and holding them accountable for these achievements.
These objectives, Fagbemi said, contribute directly to realisation of SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), adding that YMCA Ibadan would apply intervention strategies that focus on civil society strengthening at community level.
Earlier, at the stakeholders meeting with selected leaders at Gege-Olopa community to raise awareness and recruit high quality 175 volunteers for good sanitation, Gabriel O. Oguntola, permanent secretary, the state Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, who was represented by Adeyemo Johnson Adeyinka, noted that it was impossible to talk of clean water supply without proper environmental hygiene and good sanitation. He added that open defecation was a critical issue, which should be eliminated completely in the society.
