By Laudia Sawer
Tema, May 17, GNA – Maame Akua Ohenewaa Gyimah, the 11-year-old Child Sanitation Diplomat, has appealed to world leaders to ensure that children all over the world get full access to improved water and sanitation services.
She said that would afford children the opportunity to grow up healthy, study well in school, and enjoy their childhood.
Maame Gyimah, who is a pupil from Dawhenya Methodist ‘B’ Basic School, made the remarks in an address she delivered at the recently held All Systems Connect International Symposium 2023 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
A copy of her address made available to the Ghana News Agency in Tema, explained that the World Forum aimed at connecting people, ideas, systems, and solutions on health, climate, economic development, education, social justice, among others to achieve justice for all.
The symposium also formed part of measures to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 by thinking beyond the typical water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) approaches and bringing together strong partnerships across disciplines and sectors, with governments at the centre.
Maame Gyimah asked world leaders to think about when children would have improved access to water and sanitation to energize them to act promptly and save the situation and the future.
She gave the assurance that she would continue to make a change in her small way by advocating WASH and encouraging her friends to be sanitation advocates.
She expressed her hope that the symposium would be the beginning of a sustained recognition of children’s concerns as an integral part of world systems and solutions.
“As children, we are part leaders and change makers in our own little way, and when given the right environment, education, and platform, we can contribute in great ways to save the world.”
She said everyone, including children, must be the change they wanted to see in their community, as that was the only way to achieve the collective goal of good sanitation and water.
The Child Sanitation Diplomat indicated that children could also make a change in their community and schools, as she intended to use her influence not only to help her school but to advocate that every child, every school, and every home must have a decent toilet to use.
Maame Gyimah said she started with her school, which did not have a toilet facility, by appealing to the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to help save the situation.
She said currently, the construction of a washroom facility is underway, initiated by the Ministry through the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) sanitation project.
Recounting how she became the Child Sanitation Diplomat; she said her experience with open defecation in the bush and the embarrassment associated with it motivated her to become a change agent.
The ambition pushed her to participate in the School Sanitation Solution Challenge organized by World Vision Ghana and Kings Hall Media in partnership with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources and the Ghana Education Service.
She said the challenge sought to promote child participation in WASH, build their capacity to be agents of change, and empower the children to create sustainable solutions to sanitation challenges around them.
GNA