Complement government effort in provision of clean water, sanitation - Cecilia Abena Dapaah urges NGOs

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has called on the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in the Water and Sanitation sector(CONIWAS) and the private sector to complement government's efforts to provide universal access to clean water and sanitation by 2030.

She asserted that just as the nation was able to achieve targets in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), five clear years before it came to an end in the year of 2015, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the goal six on clean water and sanitation, was possible.

Mrs Dapaah said this at a meeting with members of CONIWAS in Accra last Thursday.

The meeting was to engage the minister on the implementation plan and the expected roles of civil society organisations towards ensuring universal access to water and sanitation by 2030.

The meeting also followed the announcement of presidential compacts by the leaders of five African countries on the sidelines of the United Nations Water Conference in New York held in March this year.

Innovation

The countries are Ghana, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Liberia and Uganda.

The compacts were aimed at accelerating access to water and sanitation services, including increasing budget allocations, reducing open defecation and delivering climate-resilient services.

Mrs Dapaah was of the view that “the gaps of ensuring universal access to potable water and sanitation must be bridged” because figures show that currently Ghana had recorded 87.7 per cent in clean water coverage with improved access to toilet, constituting 80.8 per cent.

She, however, said African countries and, for that matter, Ghana must find its own innovative ways in bridging the gap in water and sanitation to achieve the SDGs.

A member of the Council of Elders of CONIWAS, Oduro Donkor, commended government for taking steps to make water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues a top priority.

He, however, called for urgent steps to establish a National Sanitation Authority and approve, without any further delay, the establishment of a National Sanitation Fund.

Mr Donkor further stressed the need for comprehensive sector reforms that addressed institutional, regulatory, human resource, governance, funding and technological aspects of WASH.

He said a Water Services Act should be the basis for a harmonised sector.

This should address the regulation of service providers and sanitise the rural water sector interface with the urban water sector.