By Dennis Peprah, GNA
Sunyani, May 04, GNA – The Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODE) has called on state and non-state actors to reflect and step-up efforts to holistically end the practice by 2030, by moving from talk to action.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, the M-CODe National Convenor, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the weekend, said the coalition in collaboration with strategic stakeholders including World Vision Ghana, would launch a national and regional programme to celebrate communities and paramount chiefs whose communities had attained Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
“As we stand here, thousands of our citizens still practice open defecation, a stark reality that undermines our progress and threatens our future.
He said open defecation was not just a matter of personal hygiene, but a public health crisis because it contaminates water sources, spread diseases leading to alarming statistics of preventable deaths.
Mr Ameyibor said M-CODe as part of encouraging communities, paramount chiefs, and others to play a leading role in the campaign to end open defecation, would hold regional stakeholder workshops to identify specific problems inhibiting ending open defecation, map- out strategies to deal with them, and also honour communities that have been able to end the practice.
He said ending the practice however, required the acknowledgment of community leadership; “chiefs, state and non-state actors, religious leaders, and civil society and non-governmental organisations who have contributed and continue to support efforts towards ending open defecation”.
He said communities that continued to practice open defecation would also be identified and encouraged to learn from the best practices of others who had attained ODF status.
Mr Ameyibor said the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 had set an ambitious target to end open defecation by 2030. “This target is not just a global aspiration; it is a national imperative. We must work together to achieve it.”
He said M-CODe was worried about the limited time left for the world to reach the SDGs, especially Goal 6, Target 2, which called for ending open defecation and ensuring that everyone had access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene, with a focus on the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.
“To succeed, we need a collective effort from Government, civil society, private sector, and individuals to unite in building and maintaining latrine, sanitation infrastructure, promote hygiene education and awareness, support behaviour change initiatives, and encourage policy and legislative reforms,” he said.
Again, to fulfil the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improve the world by 2030, “We need accelerated action concerted by state and non-state actors to achieve the objectives,” and reminded world leaders of their commitment in 2015.
The M-CODe National Convenor stressed that the coalition, with the support of World Vision Ghana and its regional branches, would mobilise and work with regional and district environmental health officers, regional and district coordinating councils, traditional leaders, and other stakeholders towards the identifying communities that have attained ODF and honour them.
Mr Ameyibor exhorted all concerned parties to come together and demand more rapid reform.
GNA