WaterAid Ghana has secured a grant of US$1.3m from the Conrad Norman Hilton Foundation (CNHF) to support localised governance and rehabilitation for sustainable water services in the northern sector.
Mr Yaw Sarkodie, Head of Programmes at WaterAid Ghana, disclosed this in Tamale at a start-up workshop on the CNHF project, which was aimed at ensuring effective delivery of the programme by all stakeholders, in line with the requirements of the donor.
The workshop was also meant to provide participants with a clear and common understanding of the programme objectives and results, WaterAid’s management approach and roles, and responsibilities in managing the grant effectively.
Participants discussed existing potable WASH situation in intervention areas, causes of water source failure and Technical Assessment report on intervention areas, elements WASH service sustainability, CNHF match obligation - the sanitation component of the programme and grant management: roles and responsibilities of stakeholders.
Mr Sarkodie said WaterAid would also mobilise some funds internally to add up to the grant to ensure that water and sanitation issues were addressed, especially in rural communities of the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions.
He said the grant had been secured to implement a three-year programme, aimed at providing sustainable access to safe water for at least 7,800 poor and marginalised people in communities, health centres and school children.
“The secured grant is also aimed at supporting and strengthening the management systems, improving local governance and rehabilitating water points with an area wide approach,” he stressed.
The project, he explained, is earmarked to be implemented in six Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the northern zone, which will also focus on water facility rehabilitation, strengthen technical and managerial capacity at the community levels for sustainable management of water delivery services.
Mr Sarkodie said WaterAid would build toilets and other hygiene facilities at schools and health centres in the six districts, comprising the Bolgatanga Municipality, Bongo and the Bawku West districts in the Upper East Region; Wa East in the Upper West Region; and the Tamale Metropolis and the Gushegu District in the Northern Region.
He said available records from the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) indicated that between 60.73 and 76.21% of people from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions had access to potable water in rural communities but were not taking into consideration the day-to-day functionality of water points and did not reflect sustainability of infrastructure.
He expressed the hope that the grant would help solve sanitation issues in schools and health centres, which would also help address the problem of open defecation in the targeted districts.
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