Close to a quarter of Ghana’s population lacks access to good drinking water, international charity, Water Aid, disclosed here on Thursday.
In its State of the World’s Water 2018: The Water Gap report to mark this year’s World Water Day, the Charity said there was an observed sizeable gap between rich and poor when it came to access to water.
Ghana has 78 percent water coverage, according to the most recent UNICEF-WHO Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) figures under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The United Nations has set July to review each country’s UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target -6 on Sustainable Water Delivery by 2030.
The State of Water report examines countries by the highest percentages and largest numbers of people who cannot get clean water within a half-hour round trip, as well as those with the most progress, and demonstrates the sizeable gap between rich and poor when it comes to access to water.
It called on the government of Ghana to take urgent action to reach the 22percent of people in Ghana without access to clean water close to home, and leave no one behind.
“Cape Town is a wakeup call for all of us, reminding us that access to water, our most precious resource, is increasingly under threat. Those marginalized or living in a slum or remote rural community, are hardest to reach and will continue to suffer as long as governments do not prioritize and fund access to water for all,” Abdul-Nashiru Mohammed, Country Director of Ghana.
The South African city of Cape Town, with four million people, has been reported early March to be running out of water.
Mohammed said Ghana needed to support Nature Based Solutions (NBS) by recognizing that the answer was in nature.
Therefore, he said “there is an urgent need for the Government and all its Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to do the following: Restore wetlands; reconnect rivers to flood plains; replenish forest and (protect all existing forests) as well as; ensure buffers are maintained along rivers and streams”.
Mohammed added that government should also consider the use of sand dams in the One Village One Dam policy; and ensure that various commitments made in addressing water issues in Ghana were fulfilled. Enditem
