WaterAid Ghana has issued a heartfelt appeal to President John Dramani Mahama, urging him to prioritize water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) as he embarks on his new term in office.
In a congratulatory message following his election victory, WaterAid praised the peaceful transition of power and the maturity demonstrated by Ghanaians during the process.
The organization, which envisions a world where everyone has access to sustainable and safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, emphasized that access to clean WASH remains a critical challenge for millions in Ghana. WaterAid Ghana’s Head of Strategy, Policy, and Campaigns, Ibrahim Musah, called on the President to ensure that WASH initiatives are treated as a top priority alongside efforts to revive the country’s economy.
In an open letter to President Mahama, Musah stressed that prioritizing WASH is fundamental for the health, dignity, and progress of all Ghanaians, and that it is essential for achieving long-term development goals. The appeal underscores the urgent need for a collective effort to address the persistent gaps in water and sanitation services, which continue to affect many communities across the country.
Below is the full text of the letter
Your Excellency, President John Dramani Mahama,
WaterAid Ghana would like to congratulate you on your decisive election victory and your inauguration as the President of Ghana. Once again, Ghanaians have demonstrated their democratic maturity with a peaceful change of Government on December 7, 2024.
WaterAid envisages a world where everyone, everywhere has sustainable and safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Our mission is to transform lives through sustainable and safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
WaterAid seeks to build a just world where access to clean WASH is fundamental to life, dignity, and progress. Yet for millions of Ghanaians, this basic human right remains out of reach.
In 2021, the Ghana Statistical Service’s Population and Housing Survey report indicates that 87.7% and 23.5% Ghanaians have access to basic water and sanitation services respectively. Despite the high reported numbers with access for water, there is serious inequality in access.
Rural areas suffer poor water access, with negative consequences on their health, livelihood, and general well-being. Women, girls, and the aged face serious limitations to expand their opportunities in life.
As you take office, we plead with you to prioritize WASH in addition to reviving the economy. The following facts and numbers tell the story.
- Women should have safe birth in health care facilities equipped with safe WASH and not in insanitary conditions. Many health care facilities especially in rural Ghana lack safe WASH. This compromises safe birth, raise birth complications, and sometimes contribute to maternal, infant, and neo-natal deaths.
- About 7 in 10 Ghanaians do not have improved sanitation/toilets in their home with serious public health consequences. The 2024 cholera outbreak which recorded many deaths in parts of Accra, Eastern, Central and Western Regions attest to this.
- Climate change is threatening lives and livelihoods. There is the need for communities and WASH services in Ghana to have sustainable adaptation measures with improved resilience to the effects of climate change.
We recommend sustainable, dedicated, and predictable funding for WASH programmes during your tenure.
The current annual funding requirement to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) is US $1.7 million per annum, but current annual allocation range between GHS 300,000-500,000 from Government budgetary allocations (minus donor funding) which is far cry from the required funding.
We also recommend that the WASH directorates are placed under one Ministry, if possible, maintain them under the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.
If the above are implemented as vital first steps, millions of Ghanaian lives will be transformed.
