All Ghanaians to have access to clean water by 2030 – WaterAid

By Edmund Smith-Asante

International development charity, WaterAid, believes everyone in Ghana could gain access to clean drinking water by the year 2030.

It has therefore launched a new interactive map online, which shows that Ghana is on course to reaching the historic mark of everyone in the country having access to clean drinking water by 2030.

The map is the first online interactive data representation project produced with a predominantly African audience in mind, which is increasingly online and social media savvy.

According to the map, Ghana would attain 90.2 per cent coverage by the end of 2014 at the current pace of access. It shows that the closest West Africa country in terms of access during the same period is Burkina Faso with 85.2 per cent and Cote d’Ivoire 80.5 per cent.

It was released on May 26 at the start of an African Water Week conference in Dakar, Senegal for crucial talks on whether a proposed new global Sustainable Development Goal for universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene by the year 2030 should be given backing.

Based on the World Bank’s projection that around 4.3 million Ghanaians are now internet users, while over 400,000 have Facebook accounts, WaterAid Ghana is certain that the map’s site would be visited by many Ghanaians.

WaterAid says since the map's release, the web page on its global site has been viewed more than 2,000 times and re-tweeted more than 300 times, reaching a potential audience of more than 1.5m people and counting.

Commenting on the on the map, Dr. Afia S Zakiya, Country representative of WaterAid Ghana said “This map shows that a new water, sanitation and hygiene Sustainable Development Goal that puts Ghana on track to everyone having access to these essential services by 2030 is realistic and achievable.

“Ghana is one of a number of African countries who are already on course to achieve this historic milestone at current rates of progress, and most other African countries can get there with relatively modest improvements in levels of access.”

The interactive map

The African Water Map shows that in Ghana, 730,000 people are gaining access to water each year, which puts the country on course to reach everyone by 2021.

It also shows that 200,000 people are currently gaining access to basic sanitation in Ghana every year, although this would need to increase by an extra 1.6 million people to reach everyone by 2030.

Currently 87.2 per cent of Ghanaians have access to clean drinking water, while only 14.4 per cent have basic sanitation.

According to the Joint Monitoring Platform made up of UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 3,700 Ghanaians die every year because of diarrhoea diseases attributable to a lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene. 

A lack of access to these essential services is also said to have a substantial impact on the prevalence and mortality associated with pneumonia and under-nutrition on the African continent.

Meanwhile, the UN has estimated that half the hospital beds in developing countries are filled with people suffering from diseases caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene.

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

The African Water Map shows that in Ghana, 730,000 people are gaining access to water each year, which puts the country on course to reach everyone by 2021.