A Cross Section of Mole XXIV Participants |
BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE
Experts attending the just-ended annual water, sanitation and
hygiene conference in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, dubbed Mole Conference XXIV,
have tasked the Ghanaian Government to, through the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development, improve transparency and accountability in
sanitation and waste management.
In a 12-point communique issued
at the end of the three-day conference held on the theme: “Building Effective
Partnership for Scaling-Up Sustainable Sanitation Services in Ghana”, the over
100 participants also charged organisers of the conference - the Coalition of
NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) and other Civil Society Organizations, to,
in collaboration with government, establish and monitor sanitation sub-sector
specific transparency and accountability standards.
Under the second sub-theme of the conference – “The Role of MMDAs in Sanitation Service Delivery”, the conference urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), to collaborate with private sector agencies, rural banks and micro-finance institutions to support credit for household latrines.
The MMDAs were also mandated to strictly enforce
legislations, regulations and bye-laws on environmental sanitation, while CSOs continue
policy dialogues with stakeholders on effective implementation of bye-laws.
For their part, the
communique obligated CSO organizations to collaborate with the Ministry
of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) to ensure full scale
implementation of the “Polluter Pays Principle on sanitation” through
legislation, whereas the ministry was given the duty of collaborating with the private sector to promote and create value
addition to sanitation and solid waste management to create employment.
Touching on sub-theme
three – “Community's Perspective in Solving Sanitation Challenges: Opportunities
and Realities”, the Mole XXIV participants asked NGOs and CSOs to, in
collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government develop best Open
Defecation Free (ODF) villages into training/learning centres as well as promote the upscale for other villages
/community-led initiatives in sustainable sanitation services.
The private sector was also urged to collaborate with MMDAs
to intensify the implementation of comprehensive behaviour change communication
action plans, in order to improve behaviours and attitudes of individuals and
communities.
On the other hand, a
demand was placed on MMDAs to harness the influencing role of Chiefs,
Queen mothers, community leaders and traditional authority for effective,
intensive community level education, sensitization and management of sanitation
delivery.
Making their final call, participants requested the Ministry of Local Government to utilize the platform of the Inter Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) to address weak collaboration and coordination among key sector MDAs and other allied institutions to ensure WASH and Health sector linkages.
“CSOs,
development partners and private sector should work with government to
accelerate the implementation of sanitation policies and strategies to
accelerate improved sanitation delivery, recognizing the necessary links
between sanitation, hygiene and health,” the conference participants summed it
all up.
This year’s conference, which was opened by P. V. Obeng,
Senior Advisor to President John Dramani Mahama, was held at Fumesua near
Kumasi from Wednesday August 14, 2013 to Friday, August 16, 2013.
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