10 Saboba communities declared open defecation free

Ten communities in the Saboba District in the Northern Region have been declared open defecation free (ODF).

They are Nkpeepa, Bungen, Kpegu East, Kpegu West, Nanyeni, Kabonbu, Jakpum, Mulipido, Bondanbo and Saboba-Liful.

The declaration followed the adoption of the community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approach that sought to mobilise communities to completely eliminate open defecation.

Under the CLTS approach, communities are facilitated to conduct their own appraisal and analysis of open defecation and take their own action to become ODF.

The declaration of the 10 communities as ODF formed part of the district-wide water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) initiative being implemented by World Vision International (WVI), Ghana, to help achieve sustainable sanitation for all in the district and also as part of efforts to help Ghana attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include universal access to improved sanitation by 2030.

It was also to improve the survival and health of children in the focus project area through improved sanitation practices.

The approach

WVI, in collaboration with its partners, including the district assembly, civil society organisations (CSOs) and chiefs, provided members of the communities with technical support in artisanal training in toilet construction and management, and sensitisation to sanitation and diseases.

The communities then constructed their toilets from their own resources using locally available and durable materials while they were also sensitised to the need to adopt good sanitation and hygiene practices leading to a behavioural change among community members.

Target

Speaking at a ceremony organised by WVI to declare the 10 communities as ODF at Saboba last Wednesday, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Saboba, Mr George K. Bingrini, urged the people to embrace the government’s policy to encourage the construction of household latrines.

He indicated that all communities in the Saboba District would be certified ODF by 2021 and they would continue to collaborate with WVI and other partners in that respect.

Support

In an address read on behalf of the Northern Regional Operations Manager for WVI, Ghana, Mr Timothy A. Amang-bey Akampabadai, the Regional Operations Accountant of WVI, Mr Joseph Yaw Fankibi, said World Vision was implementing some technical projects which included WASH, household food security and resilience and improved community engagement through the community engagement scholarship plans in the Saboba District.

He said the projects were aimed at improving the well-being of children within the focus area, and added that in the area of WASH, the programme had provided 81 boreholes and seven mechanised water systems from 2014 to date in all the 45 communities in the Saboba District.

He highlighted some of the activities that were to be carried out by World Vision to include provision of technical support to communities practising open defecation to enable them to achieve ODF status, adding that the programme would also support five ODF communities with boreholes and mechanised borehole systems, as well as hand washing facilities in some selected communities.