Govt secures $45m to deliver sanitation services

• Posted on June 21, 2018
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Ghana has secured $45 million from the World Bank to help deliver basic sanitation services to poor and vulnerable people across the country.

The amount will, among other things, be used to support the household latrine ownership and usage initiative by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources across the country.

The sector Minister, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, announced this in Accra on Wednesday at the launch of a document dubbed: “Guidelines for targeting the poor and vulnerable for basic sanitation services in Ghana”.

He said the money was an additional funding under the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project (AF-SRWSP) that aimed at improving on the country’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector.

Current situation

According to a 2017 World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report, only 14 per cent of Ghanaians have access to basic sanitation, while 19 per cent practise open defecation.

The report also shows that about 19,000 people die from WASH-related diseases in the country every year.

The most affected are the poor and vulnerable, who are also said to be seven times more likely to engage in open defecation.

The situation poses a threat to the country’s move to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets on the WASH sector by 2030.

Mr Joseph Obeng Poku (left), acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, and Mr Steven Hendrix (right),  Deputy Mission Director of USAID Ghana, jointly unveiling a  plaque to launch the national guidelines for basic sanitation in Accra.

-Graphic