By Frank Kwame Abbor, GNA
Ho, Aug. 12, GNA – Community Focus Foundation Ghana (CFF-Ghana) and its partners have intensified efforts to address water, sanitation and hygiene challenges in rural communities in the Volta Region, through infrastructure development and community engagement.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Mr Richard Kasu, Development Expert and Executive Director of CFF-Ghana, said access to safe and reliable water remained one of the most pressing development challenges confronting several rural communities in the Region.
He said residents in many communities continued to depend on inadequate and unsafe water sources, a situation that had created health, social and economic challenges for households.
The Ghana Demographic and Health Survey Report 2022, said only about 24 per cent of the population in the Volta Region had access to improved water and sanitation services.
Mr Kasu said open daefecation also remained prevalent in some parts of the Region, with rates reaching as high as 90.4 per cent in some municipal areas.
He said the situation posed serious health risks and undermined efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal Six (SDG 6), which sought to ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2030.
He further cited data from the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC), which indicated that the Region required about 900 mechanised boreholes to bridge the existing water gap.
Against that background, CFF-Ghana, in collaboration with the VRCC, organised the maiden Volta Water Dialogue on August 24, 2025, at Stevens Hotel in Ho to examine the water, sanitation and hygiene challenges confronting the Region and develop practical solutions.
Mr Kasu said the organisation was determined to move beyond discussions and ensure that the recommendations from such engagements translated into measurable interventions in communities.
He said CFF-Ghana and its partners had already supported the provision and improvement of water infrastructure in some rural communities, including the mechanisation of boreholes.
He mentioned Dodome Dogblorme in the Ho West District and Leklebi Agbesia in the Afadzato South District as beneficiaries of two mechanised boreholes provided through the initiative.
He said the interventions were intended not only to increase access to potable water but also to strengthen community ownership and maintenance systems to ensure the facilities remained functional over the long term.
Mr Kasu said the organisation had also undertaken public education campaigns to promote safe water handling, sanitation and hygiene practices among residents.
He explained that such education was essential to reducing preventable diseases associated with unsafe water and poor sanitation practices.
He stressed that addressing the Region’s water challenges required collective action involving government institutions, traditional authorities, civil society organisations, development partners, individuals and community members.
“Addressing water challenges requires collective action,” he said, adding that CFF-Ghana would continue to mobilise partnerships and resources to complement government efforts in providing sustainable water infrastructure.
Mr Kasu acknowledged the challenges confronting efforts to close the Region’s water gap but expressed optimism that the situation could be addressed if stakeholders became intentional and committed to the task.
He said the experience of rural communities in the Volta Region demonstrated that meaningful dialogue could produce lasting solutions when communities were given the opportunity to participate and stakeholders worked together.
“Once we become intentional about issues regarding water access as a people and fully commit to it, there is no way we cannot surmount the challenges,” he said.
Speaking to Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Kasu said CFF-Ghana believed that meaningful dialogue should always lead to measurable action and remained committed to building partnerships to address water, sanitation and hygiene challenges in rural Volta.
He said the organisation would continue to place communities at the centre of interventions to ensure that solutions reflected their actual needs and could be sustained.
Mr Kasu said providing rural communities with access to clean and safe water was not only a development responsibility but also a critical investment in public health, education, livelihoods and the overall wellbeing of residents.
He expressed the hope that continued collaboration among stakeholders would help bridge the Region’s water deficit and contribute to the achievement of SDG 6.
He said CFF-Ghana remained focused on building the necessary partnerships to transform commitments into practical interventions, adding that “the end will surely justify the means.”
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/ Christabel Addo