By Bernice Bessey.
The Joint Monitoring Platform estimates only 14 percent of the Ghanaian population has access to improved toilet facilities, while close to 20 percent continue to indulge in open defection, due to lack of access to sanitation facilities and adequate water.
This, Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection Benita Okity-Duah noted, had negative consequences for the health and wellbeing of people, particularly women and children .The Deputy Minister made the observation at the World Vision Ghana’s 35 Anniversary, dubbed “Every child deserves clean water”, at the Ghana Physicians and Surgeons College in Accra.
She said even though Ghana is close to achieving the Millennium Goal on water, a lot must be done to improve sanitation.
Benita Okity-Duah, however, commended World Vision for its efforts to increase access to water, sanitation and hygiene, improved health, quality education, food security and economic empowerment to assist deprived and vulnerable communities.
She said World Vision’s numerous interventions had not only saved lives, but provided communities with reasons to survive, adding: “I strongly believe that we all need to recognised and appreciate them for contributing immensely to the socio-economic development of this country.” The Deputy Minister expressed concern over the number of hours school children, especially girls, spend searching for water, which had resulted in some dropping out, and being forced into marriage.
“The time and efforts children put into searching for water affects their performance in school. Ensuring that communities have access to water and sanitation, therefore, leads to improved livelihoods and living conditions of children, enhanced quality education, as well as reduced infant and maternal deaths,” she noted. She also asserted that the US$4 million invested by World Vision to provide potable water to over 150 deprived communities in 2013 was highly recommendable.
World Vision’s fundamentals are based on improved household food security, nutrition for children, access to quality education, and strengthening partnerships and citizens’ empowerment, said National Director Hubert Charles, adding that the organisation was working towards addressing poverty and injustice in society.
He said over the last three years World Vision had reached out to 3.5 million people with water, sanitation and hygiene, stressing: “World Vision reaches a new person every 30 seconds with clean water. We hope to reach 10 million people by 2016”. World Vision, from 1985 to date, has drilled close to 4,000 boreholes, and equipped them with hand pumps, hundreds of alternative water systems, rooftop rainwater harvesting schemes, ponds, dams, and institutional latrines.