UNICEF in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has launched a sanitation award scheme for Ghanaian journalists in a bid to end open defecation in the country.
The award scheme is dubbed “Face of ODF Media Feature and Photo Contest.” It is part of efforts towards attaining the national goal of an Open Defecation Free (ODF) Ghana by 2020.
[contextly_sidebar id=”eH4oM6p1oemVaRUtnT0IGZz1xvGaYkPG”]This aligns with the sanitation targets of both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that expires by the end of December 2015 and its successor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The launch is a follow-up to a recent announcement by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, to institute an award scheme for journalists as part of the national drive to end open defecation in Ghana.
“Sanitation is a shared responsibility and the media are key partners in supporting and holding the ministry to their commitment to improve basic sanitation in Ghana” said the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda.
The award scheme will be launched in Accra on Tuesday December 15th 2015. The scheme will award journalists who exhibit professionalism in identifying the issues, establishing the linkages to health and socio-economic development, and bring to the fore the simple innovative measures that have been adopted to eliminate the menace. The award winning works should reflect a good mixture of research, analysis and pictorial representation.
Details of the scheme and the entry requirements will be announced at the launch ceremony.
Susan Ngongi, UNICEF representative said, “behavior change is what we need to attain an ODF Ghana, but it will require a massive collaboration effort across a broad based partnership and the media is one of the key vehicles to drive this forward..”
Ghana has made little progress in managing the poor sanitation situation in the country. A recent cholera outbreak which claimed over two hundred lives as well as the abysmal sanitation coverage of only 15%, underscores the poor sanitation challenge in the country. Open defecation is also a key sanitation challenge affecting the country with 21% of Ghanaians resorting to the practice. National statistics say five million Ghanaians do not have access to any toilet facilities and 20 million do not have access to basic improved sanitation.
Media focus on open defecation and general WASH issues, which cost the country a whopping 79 million US dollars annually, will help equip people with the needed information to make informed decisions and choices regarding their toilet manners that will eventually become the practice rather than the exception.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana