Aqua Africa trains 150 rural communities on water solutions

Aqua Africa (AA) has organised an in-depth training and orientation programmes for participants drawn from 150 rural communities across the country as part of the Rural Communities and Small Town Water Supply Project (RCSTWSP).

The five-day workshop which took place in Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region was undertaken by the AA Community Engagement Team in partnership with the regional Extension Service Specialist (ESS) from Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA).

The training was aimed at equipping the participants with the necessary skill set to guide key stakeholders within the beneficiary communities of the RCSTWSP which is to be delivered across five regions in the country.

AA is a United Kingdom (UK) business that focuses on water access solutions to challenging environments through sustainable social impact projects encompassing government-to-government bilateral compliance structures and fully funded blended solutions. It provides safe, clean potable water to areas of greatest need, and supports the delivery of the adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As part of the training, each of the participants was taken through the community engagement strategy, detailing the composition of the diverse communities they would be visiting to ensure that key stakeholders within the community were fully informed on the work plans of the project.

The training also allowed for hands-on practice as well as meetings with some community chiefs and members.

SDGs

During the training, the Community Relations Manager at Aqua Africa, Rita Ambadire, said it was a great occasion for teams from both CWSA and AA to bond and provided an opportunity for all regional community engagement teams to carry the same message.

The teams worked harmoniously together to effectively engage and mobilise the project communities for successful project implementation in the five regions.

Through the project, she said AA was supporting the government by improving water quality and efficiency as well as by adapting the water collection process, impacting the advancement of the SDGs.

Ms Ambadire said the climate-smart solution of installing off-grid solar-paneled systems would apply innovative technology and financing methods that would give access to water in communities with revenue secured through a digitalised ‘pay as you fetch‘ approach.

A percentage of revenue, she said, would be allocated for operations and also help to secure community management through maintenance and any future expansion of the water systems.

Background

The RCSTWSP is a project designed to increase access to safe and reliable water supply across the five selected regions in the country.

It forms part of a larger programme to accelerate the delivery of water facilities and services in unserved rural populations.

The project value of €30 million euros was a 100 per cent structured financed project by UK Export Finance and HSBC.

The full project will deliver a sustainable project that will alleviate the plight of 280,000 people from the plight of daily water poverty.