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.
Overall, the grant is expected to support 20,000 people
in the communities and 10 civil service organisations (CSOs) in addition to the
three district assemblies, in a project titled “Empowering citizens and civil
society organisations to improve the delivery, equity and sustainability of
water, sanitation and hygiene services.
Addressing a start-up workshop for the project in Accra
on Tuesday, Mr Ibrahim Musah, Head of Policy and Partnership, WAG, said the
three districts were chosen because of their poor water, sanitation and hygiene
situation.
He said Ghana was experiencing poor WASH situations in
spite of its numerous policies and commitments, because of low public
investments in WASH by local and national government, poor attitudes and
behaviours by the general population on WASH issues and weak community-based
processes.
Mr Musah added that WASH and health linkages were also
not appreciated, while there were weak monitoring and evaluation systems, and
that the overall objective of the project was “To strengthen civil society
capacity as a prerequisite to promoting a more equitable society and reducing
poverty.”
He said specifically, the project was aimed at
increasing the capacity of local communities and civil society organisations,
to effectively demand and monitor the provision of equitable WASH services,
through evidence-based dialogue with duty bearers.
Expected outcomes of the project include increased
access to equitable, sustainable and improved WASH for poor people, the
development of culturally appropriate and replicable models for rural and
peri-urban WASH service delivery and, improved responsiveness of government,
private sector and other duty bearers to the demands of civil service
organisations at all levels.
The main partners of the project are the Coalition of
NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), the Integrated Action for Community
Development (INTAGRAD) and the three district and municipal assemblies.
Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh
This story was first published by the Daily Graphic on April 16, 2014
This story was first published by the Daily Graphic on April 16, 2014
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