By Victoria Agyemang/Florence Afriyie Mensah
Ho (V/R), Oct. 09, GNA – Ghana needs visible leadership who are transparent and accountable to help fund and coordinate activities of safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services.
This is because inadequate resources are a contributing factor to loopholes that affect the success of the project thus, the need to channel more funds to meet its target.
Apparently, Ghana needs more than 1.7 billion USD every year to fund WASH activities until 2030.
Mr Kweku Quansah, the Deputy Director in charge of Sanitation at the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, made the call at a plenary session on Policies, Approaches and Methods for Safe WASH services at the ongoing Mole XXXV conference in Ho.
The four-day conference is being held on the theme: “Looking back on SDG Six Implementation in Ghana: Progress, Challenges and Way Forward,” and it is being executed by the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS).
The Conference would ignite renewed commitment in Ghana’s WASH sector to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), seeking to catalyse bold and collective actions for sustainable and equitable WASH services delivery.
He noted that Ghana had several sanitation, water, hygiene, health and environment related policies, strategies and plans which aimed at protecting the environment, providing clean water, sanitation, and promoting hygiene services and voluntary hygiene behaviours towards the achievement of sustainable health.
Others had been issued to facilitate decentralisation, strategic planning, strengthen institutions and coordinate development planning but needed more funds to support its implementation, he said.
Some policies identified and adopted include the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (2021-2025), Ghana WASH Development Programme (GWASHDP) 2023-2030, elimination of open defecation by 2030, Water and Sanitation for all agenda, and Rural Sanitation Model and Strategy (RSMS).
He noted that Ghana was signatory to several international treaties and conventions related to WASH including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The implementation and effective coordination of efforts to achieve these policies and international treaties, were most likely to result in effective management of other facets of national development including job creation.
He added that awareness creation was a responsibility of all parties but does not hang on the neck of only policy makers, therefore, stakeholders with similar interests must collaborate with the Ministry to ensure achieving safe WASH activities became successful.
On Legal policies, Mrs Vida Duti, the Country Director, International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) advocated for an act to back programmes in the WASH sector.
She mentioned the need for strong legislation against perpetrators to deter perpetrators who engage in the act.
The conference being organised by the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) is on the general theme, “Looking Back on SDG Six Implementation in Ghana: Progress, Challenges, and Ways Forward”.
The four main thematic subjects are institutional alignments and policies, approaches, strategies, and methods towards attainment of Sustainable Development Goal Six (SDG6) in Ghana.
Among the institutions and organisations participating in the five-day MOLE35 Conference are the GAMA/GKMA Sanitation and Water Project, IRC Ghana, World Vision Ghana, the Ghana WASH Journalists Network (GWJN) and the Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODe).
GNA