By Angela Ayimbire
Tema, March 16, GNA – As part of activities to commemorate the 2023 World Water Day (WWD) the Media Coalition against Open Defecation (M-CODe) will host a special event on the theme: “Let’s Kill Open Defecation today! before it Kills us tomorrow”.
M-CODe statement said Mr. Joseph Korto, National Dean of Presiding Members, who is the special guest would speak on the topic: “The Role of Presiding Members in ending Open Defecation in their respective jurisdictions” at the event scheduled at the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office on Wednesday, March 22 at 10:00 hours.
A representative from the GAMA and GKMA Water and Sanitation Project would also speak on the topic: “The impact of reliable water supply in the operationalization of school toilet facilities”.
M-CODe statement signed by Mr Francis Ameyibor, the National Convener said the coalition seeks to rejuvenate locally, the public awareness campaign toward the global target of elimination of open defecation by 2030.
This year, the focus of the UN observance of the WWD is on accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. The global campaign, called “Be the change, encourages people to take action in their own lives to change the way they use, consume and manage water”.
The Media Coalition, therefore, through its national “M-CODe 2023 Anti-Open Defecation Nationwide Advocacy,” which is a relentless national campaign aimed at ending the practice of defecating in the open, rather than in a toilet is linking the problems of water to open defecation.
M-CODe acknowledged the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goal six which required a substantial acceleration in toilet use, stressing that “open defecation is an affront to the dignity, health, and well-being, especially of girls and women”.
M-CODe also through the advocacy to engage strategic stakeholders, including Regional Coordinating Councils, Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Local Government, and the Ministry of Sanitation among others to revamp and sustain the activism to change the parameters and create an open defecation-free society.
Dysfunction throughout the water cycle undermines progress on all major global issues, from health to hunger, gender equality to jobs, education to industry, and disasters to peace.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) data available to the M-CO De indicates that globally 1.4 million people die annually and 74 million will have their lives shortened by diseases related to poor water, sanitation, and hygiene.
“Today, 1 in 4 people – 2 billion people worldwide – lack safe drinking water, almost half of the global population – 3.6 billion people – lack safe sanitation, 44 percent of household wastewater is not safely treated, and global water demand is projected to increase by 55 percent by 2050,” the statement stated.
M-CODe, therefore, called on all stakeholders to join the coalition’s effort to end open defecation in the country and commended World Vision Ghana, GAMA, and other stakeholders for their relentless support toward ending open defecation.
GNA