Ghana government pledges access to water, sanitation and hygiene for all by 2025

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE

From left, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank Group President Dr. Jim Yong Kim and SWA Chair Mr John Agyekum Kufuor

The government has pledged to deliver universal access to safe drinking water, basic toilets and hygiene for all Ghanaians by 2025.

It has also made nine other commitments, which include better financing and coordination, renewal of the national water policy and conducting of a national study on access, for the hardest-to-reach.

30 communities benefit from €625 facility

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE

Thirty communities in three districts of the country, have been selected as beneficiaries of a three-year European Union (EC)- Non State Actors (NSA) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facility worth €624,952.

This comprises €499,970 representing 80 per cent of the total amount from the EC and €124,982 making up a 20 per cent contribution from WaterAid Ghana (WAG), which secured the facility under the EC-NSA window in 2013.

‘Africa should develop solutions for its energy challenges’

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE, BACK FROM BRUSSELS

Ms Britta Thomsen (right) being interviewd by  Edmund Smith-Asante

The Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee, Ms Britta Thomsen, has advocated that Africa should develop local solutions for its energy challenges, instead of depending on Europe.

Ghana loses GH¢750m annually due to poor sanitation delivery

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.

2014 HLM: Ghana Govt pledges to invest US$ 170m in water, sanitation

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE

Even before the third Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) High Level Meeting (HLM) gets underway at the World Bank in Washington DC on April 11, 2014, the Government of Ghana has pledged a total annual investment of US$170 million in the water and sanitation sector.

This is made up of an annual injection of US$120 million for water and US$50 million for sanitation.

Ghana:10,000 public schools without toilets

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.MMc4UKdS.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.MMc4UKdS.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.MMc4UKdS.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.MMc4UKdS.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.O7SfiC1h.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.O7SfiC1h.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.O7SfiC1h.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.O7SfiC1h.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.O7SfiC1h.dpuf

Ghana is losing close to GH¢750 million per annum for poor sanitation service delivery, a 2011 World Bank Report has revealed.

The cost incurred is as a result of poor sanitation delivery arising from time spent on accessing water and sanitation facilities, deaths of both adults and children as a result of poor sanitation and girl school dropouts, among many other issues.
A programme officer at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  cited the time spent to access water “where people travel for close to one hour just to go and fetch water – dirty water. They come home with dirty water and they get sick”.

Report
Quoting from the 2011 report of the World Bank on the “Economic impacts of poor sanitation in Ghana”, Mr Quansah said poor sanitation cost Ghana the equivalent of $290 million annually, which, he indicated, was equal to US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
“It breaks the figure to US$19 million lost each year in access time, with each person spending almost two-and-a-half days a year finding a private place to defaecate and US$54 million spent each year on health care,” he stated.
According to Mr Quansah, the research also said US$215 million was lost each year due to premature death, with approximately 19,000 Ghanaians, including 5,100 children, dying from cholera and US$1.5 million being lost to productivity whilst people were sick or accessing health care.
He explained that more resources were lost  due to the lack of access to improved water sources, although in-depth studies had not been conducted as was the case in sanitation.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development recognises improved water and environmental sanitation as critical drivers of both human and national development.
“Particularly, this impacts negatively on some of the local intervention programmes that we are implementing as a country,” Mr Quansah said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/20603-ghana-loses-gh-750m-annually-due-to-poor-sanitation-delivery.html#sthash.O7SfiC1h.dpuf

Mrs Kate Opoku

A SURVEY conducted on public schools across the country, has revealed that about 10,000 do not have any toilet facilities.

The number is half of the about 20,000 total number of public schools in Ghana, apart from the thousands of privately owned schools that may not have.