Oyo Govt, UNICEF to end open defecation in more LGAs

• She announced Ibarapa-East Local Government Area as the third local government selected for the ODF initiative, emphasizing the competitive and transparent nature of the selection process
  

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The Oyo State Government has finalized arrangements with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to extend the Open Defecation Free (ODF) program to additional Local Government Areas within the state.

In an interview with journalists in Ibadan on Tuesday, Mrs. Titilayo Obayemi, the Director of Sanitation at the Oyo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), disclosed the development. She announced Ibarapa-East Local Government Area as the third local government selected for the ODF initiative, emphasizing the competitive and transparent nature of the selection process.

Obayemi highlighted that ongoing monitoring and follow-up efforts persist in Egbeda and Ona Ara council areas, which were initially triggered for the ODF program.

Recalling the state government’s launch of a roadmap in 2022 aimed at curbing open defecation’s adverse impact on public health, she stressed that the roadmap outlines plans to achieve open defecation-free status across all 33 LGAs in the state by 2028.

Expressing concern about the prevalence of open defecation in the state, Obayemi reassured that the government is earnestly working towards its goal of creating an open defecation-free society by 2028.

“The state government started the ODF project in Egbeda and Ona Ara LGAs as pilots to end open defecation.

“We started with mobilization of the stakeholders with the help of UNICEF and we have been able to trigger some of the communities within the LGAs,” she said.