Our Work
in nigeria
Despite being Africa’s largest oil-producing nation, more than half of the people in Nigeria remain in poverty. Access to clean water and sanitation is one of the biggest challenges across the country. Only around a quarter of people in Nigeria (26.5 per cent) use improved drinking water and sanitation facilities and a large portion of the population (around 19 per cent in 2020) practice open defecation, spreading preventable diseases and contributing to high infant mortality rates.
Full name: Nigeria
Population: 216.7 million (UNFPA, 2022)
Capital: Abuja
Area: 923,768 km²
Major languages: Hausa, Yoruba and English
Major religions: Islam, Christianity
United Purpose, now merged with Self Help Africa, has worked in Nigeria since 1999. Our award-winning water, sanitation and hygiene programmes in the country supported the Government in achieving the country’s first open-defecation free local government area. It also showed it was possible to do it, and several other areas have since been declared open-defecation free – boosting the health of communities.
We also work to empower women and communities to voice their rights, and are applying our growing expertise in marine conservation when working with communities to tackle environmental destruction in Nigeria’s depleting mangrove forests.
Nigeria projects
SCALING RURAL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS FOR COMMUNITY-LED DIGITAL ADAPTATION & RESILIENCE
Objective: Empowering women entrepreneurs in existing women’s clubs through an incubator model that provide various targeted capacity strengthening including financial literacy support, product market development, and scale-up in the use of digital tools for both learning and customer recruitment to women collectives through the Women Business Centre model.
Our women’s livelihood groups focus on providing women entrepreneurs who have visions to grow their businesses with the training, products and services they need to thrive has set our Bangladesh women’s business centres model apart and has driven their success in recent years. The RWE Phase 1 was a pilot with similar approach in Nigeria – building on the learnings and vision of our women entrepreneur partners.
In Nigeria, our focus is on health and wellbeing promotion, linking the social marketing of health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) products and practices to digital health services that support women’s wellbeing and existing health systems.
The continued success of these centres demonstrates the importance of resilient local circular economies as a platform for community development. You can learn more by visiting www.womensbusinesscentres.org. The Empowering Rural Women Entrepreneurs (RWE) Phase 2: Enterprise Accelerator Project is a continuation of the GIZ funded RWE Phase 1 and is now being implemented. It supports women entrepreneurs to use health promotion and outreach as a social marketing tool for a range of products and services which support holistic wellbeing and grassroots health system strengthening.
1,160 beneficiaries
IMPROVING EQUITABLE ACCESS TO BASIC SANITATION AND HYGIENE FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN FRAGILE CONTEXTS
Objective: Evolving and testing an appropriate, inclusive, and effective approach to Area Wide Sanitation (AWS) in fragile contexts is evolved and tested in Benue State, Nigeria
The Fragile SAN project is a 18 months learning project with the goal to develop and widely share an adapted approach and ‘toolbox’ of scalable solutions to Area Wide Sanitation (AWS) in fragile and conflict-affected areas in Nigeria. The approach is based on refinement and evaluation of an approach previously innovated by Self Help Africa/United Purpose (SHA/UP) in Nigeria—the ‘WASH Security Response Plan’—incorporating additional elements such as market-based sanitation (MBS) and wider systems strengthening, aiming to achieve AWS outcomes within LGAs affected by conflict and internally displaced communities. The approach and scalable solutions will be shared widely with sector players within Nigeria and globally, with the hope that these learnings and adaptations will be adopted and further adapted by different actors to reduce the barriers of AWS efforts in fragile communities.
ABATEMENT OF SHORT-LIVED CLIMATE POLLUTANTS (SLCPS) IN THE NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR BY REDUCING OPEN FIELD BURNING (NO BURN ALTERNATIVES) PROJECT
Objectives: To improve the capacity of local government extension officers on no burn alternatives and Climate Smart Agriculture practices and to encourage farmers uptake of farming practices that lead to reduced open burning.
The Abatement of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (ASLCPs) Project supported by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC promotes the vision of the Nigerian Government to support efficient management and alternative utilisation of farm wastes to reduce or prevent burning of farm residues. It promotes clean air alternatives based on low-tech mechanical conversion and further use/processing of cleared biomass.
20 groups of 25 farmers
WASH SYSTEMS FOR HEALTH
Objectives: Strengthening WASH Systems to ensure sustainable, reliable, resilient and inclusive WASH service delivery in Nigeria and Sierra Leone
The WASH System for Health (WS4H) is a 4-year programme to strengthen the systems needed to establish reliable, resilient, and inclusive WASH services in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. With funding from FCDO, SHA leads the consortium for West Africa with GOAL in Sierra Leone. The programme’s focus on systems was developed to enhance the sustainability of WASH services; attract new public and private finance; and ensure that women are empowered to take informed decisions about the services they receive. It has many implementation and technical partners, including GOAL, NEWSAN, Toilet Pride Initiative, Sanitation Learning Hub, Bristol University, Social Finance, Budgit and Population Services International.
YOUTH IN NIGERIA - STRENGTHENING FOOD SYSTEMS TO PROMOTE INCREASED VALUE CHAIN AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE YOUTH IN NIGERIA
Objectives: Strengthening food systems to promote increased value chain and employment opportunities for young men and women (18-35) in Kano State, Nigeria.
The Youth in Work Project aims to strengthen food systems to promote increased value chain employment opportunities for the youth; sustaining and improving on-farm and off-farm job opportunities for 50,000 young women and men in Kano engaged in the different nodes of sorghum, millet, soya bean, groundnut, and horticulture value chains.
50,000 young women and men
THE SUSTAINABLE RURAL DRINKING WATER INITIATIVE IN NIGERIA - SURWIN - STEPPING UP WASH PHASE 2
Objectives: Professionalising rural water service delivery systems and ensuring 95% functionality year-round with only 0-48 hrs downtime permissible.
The Sustainable Rural Drinking Water Initiative in Nigeria (SURWIN) Project is the Vitol Foundation-funded rural water maintenance pilot in Nigeria. It focuses on promoting professionalised maintenance services for handpump boreholes in communities, using preventive and reactive maintenance approaches through service delivery models to track functionality and ensuring 95% borehole functionality at all times with 48hrs max down time. The project also aims to prepare the ground for potential Carbon/carbonisation projects. SURWIN is currently being implemented in 3 LGAs of Ogoja, Yala and Bekwarra in Cross River State.
