The Country Director of IRC-Ghana, Vida Duti has called on government and development partners to invest more in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) subsector to propel the needed change and development in communities.
She observed that WASH issues remained critical to the country’s quest for sustainable development and therefore called for commitment in initiating and implementing mechanisms to promote universal coverage of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.
The Country Director of IRC-Ghana made the call in Aburi at a three-day engagement workshop with representatives of the Asutifi North District Assembly in the Brong Ahafo Region, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), World Vision International, Aquaya Institute and other partners in WASH-related subsector to finalize the district’s 15-year WASH Masterplan.
The programme was organized by IRC-Ghana, Safe Water Network and supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
The District is piloting a 15-year District Based WASH Coverage Initiative for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal Six (SDG 6) and when successful, will be replicated in Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country.
She mentioned illiteracy, policy deficiency, weak capacity and operational gaps as the challenges confronting the efficient delivery of WASH services in the country and called for collaboration from the government and partners to professionalize water service delivery for financial sustainability.
Mrs. Duti tasked stakeholders to demonstrate commitment by harmonizing their interventions and strategies in achieving full WASH coverage for all by 2030.
In his welcome address, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Asutifi North, Anthony Mensah commended development partners of the WASH programme for finalizing the masterplan aimed at achieving universal coverage of water, sanitation and Hygiene services in the district.
He noted the level of access to WASH facilities in the district was estimated at 33 percent for sanitation and 65 percent for water far below the national average and appealed to the partners to fashion out interventions fast-track the process to enable the district achieve SDG 6, aimed at clean water and sanitation.
“There is no doubt that, the district has the potential to improve on its coverage especially in the willingness of the private sector to resource and facilitate direct implementation of WASH facilities”, he emphasized.
Mr Mensah therefore pledged the assembly’s commitment to the implementation of the WASH masterplan to achieve its desired results and appealed to all stakeholders for support and frank discussions of the programme to serve as a workable model for the country.
He commended IRC-Ghana, Safe Water Network, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, World Vision International and Aquaya Institute for their intervention and interest in address WASH problems in the area.
Participants at the end of the 3-day engagement are expected to come out with a budget, funding sources and implementation plan for the project.
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By: Mashoud Kombat/citifmonline.com/Ghana