Ghana cannot achieve MDG target on sanitation
Ghana is far from achieving the Millennium Development Goal 7 (MDG7) on environmental sanitation by the 2015 deadline.
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The MDG target enjoins countries to achieve a 57 per cent coverage of that goal by the deadline but Ghana currently has achieved only 13 per cent of that figure which puts the country in a difficult position to meet the target.
This was made known in Accra yesterday when stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector met to brainstorm on how to help improve the sanitation situation in the country.
A non-governmental organisation, Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA) organised the workshop on the theme, “Modelling Sanitation Learning Agenda for Evidence-based Bridging of the Policy Practice Gap in Ghana.”
It is also a sanitation Think-Tank that had set itself to work in line with the theme for the workshop.
The Policy Manager of the WSA, Mr Charles Nachinab, in a presentation, quoted a monitoring report which indicated that sanitation remained one of the most ‘off track’ of all the MDG targets and that in sub-Sahara Africa, only 30 per cent of the population used improved sanitation facilities.
In that respect, he stated that the WSA with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had set up an independent Africa Sanitation Think-Tank (ASTT) to advise governments, donors, regional institutions and civil society organisations on specific sanitation policy issues and best practices.
The rationale behind the initiative, Mr Nachinab explained, was to use context specific evidence to address and influence policy and practice at scale adding that that contributed to the accumulation of sanitation knowledge which would then be applied to frame debates.
The policy manager explained that the ASTT operated a cycle of research, policy analysis and stakeholder engagement which partnered with existing Think-Tanks and institutions for cross learning and technical support in research.
The acting Director in charge of Environmental Sanitation at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Demedeme Naa, who chaired the function noted that it was important for Ghana to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on sanitation by 2015.
He, however, acknowledged the slow pace at which the country was going in relation to the MDG target due to the current low performance, stressing that such a record could harm Ghana’s economic and development goals.
The Resident Representative of the WSA, Mrs Destina Asamani, in her remarks, told the participants that it was important for the country to work hard in improving access to sanitation beyond the 2015 MDG target.
She further noted that it was important for the country to employ strategic and innovative modules to increase access to sanitation and that the adoption of modern technology could ensure the recycling of liquid and solid waste, a venture yet to be fully exploited by the country.
By Sebastian Syme & Franklin Badu/Daily Graphic/Ghana