Tinjase, (O/R), March 10, GNA – WASH for Health, a five-year sanitation project implemented by non-profit Global Communities has constructed more than 22,000 household latrines in the country.
The project, sponsored by the USAID, was designed to support the improvement of WASH facilities in rural areas within nine selected regions, and has benefitted some 170,000 people and helped free over 800 communities from open defecation.
Mr Domnic Osei, Deputy Chief of Party for the project said this at the commissioning of a water supply system for the border community of Tinjase in Nkwanta North District of the Oti Region.
He added that over 60,000 people in the regions of implementation had benefitted from the construction of 220 boreholes.
Global Communities, in line with the project’s objectives, supported sanitation infrastructure improvement by promoting sustainable and affordable toilet lavatories.
Local networks of natural leaders were created to help communities to identify and overcome sanitation challenges, and artisans were trained to sustain the construction of toilets.
The project, which ended in 2020, has also provided a total of 260 toilets to schools and health facilities.
Its hygiene promotion component is; menstrual hygiene management, which according to Mr Osei, aided some four thousand adolescent girls.
Beneficiaries received skills in basic hand washing apparatus construction as well as in the storage and retrieval of water, in addition to education on cholera prevention.
Mr Osei told the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines that the project provided structures that communities could leverage to permanently improve sanitation outcomes.
He said the project had enjoyed government’s support and willingness to sustain its essence beyond the implementation period.
“We have enjoyed a good working relationship with the various Ministries and the regional coordinating councils and it’s the reason for our success in all districts of implementation,” Mr. Osei said.
He noted however that open defecation remained a challenging area, and called on all stakeholders to invest more effort in its eradication.
The Deputy Chief of Party said more success was recorded within the area of community water access, with the construction of more boreholes and small town water systems bringing relief to many.
The Tinjase water supply system is a GH¢2.3 million that feeds homes and institutions.
Mr Osei cited a similar project ongoing at Bonakye, a community in the district, and assured that more would be provided with the availability of funds.
GNA