By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
196 communities in three districts in the Upper East region have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), while nine (9) existing ODF communities migrated to sanitised community status.
The 205 ODF and sanitised communities, which are within the Talensi, Mamprugu Moagduri Districts, and West Mamprusi Municipalities, achieved these remarkable successes through the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Integrated Community Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement (ICOWASH) project.
The communities were certified by the District and Regional Interagency Coordinating Committees on Sanitation.
Sharing the experiences, challenges, and achievements chalked under the project at the 101 edition of the National Level Learning Alliance Platform (NLLAP), Mr. Alfred Avenona, ICOWASH Senior Project Officer, explained the project was very successful because 9,000 household latrines and more than 11,000 hand washing stations were constructed during the project implementation period.
He hinted that the huge successes chalked under the project were made possible through the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) implementation and sanitation marketing activities it adopted.
“I’m happy to announce that through the successful implementation of the project, 175 basic schools and 50 healthcare facilities have been recognised as WASH-friendly institutions, significantly improving menstrual hygiene management in schools and reducing stigmatisation, which has positively affected school attendance and retention among menstruating girls,” he said.
Mr. Avenona further explained that, through the cooperation and collaboration with the Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, and municipal and district assemblies, a range of infrastructure has been developed, including 91 boreholes, 10 limited mechanised water systems, 275 gender and disability-friendly institutional latrines, 38 bathrooms, and 35 medical incinerators.
This, he said, has significantly improved water, sanitation, and hygiene services in schools, healthcare facilities, and communities, thus enhancing service delivery across the districts.
According to him, 120 resilient latrines were also constructed for the very poor households using a pro-poor guideline.
“The project again supported 232 households in ODF and sanitised communities to make compost using crop residue and animal dropping to improve crop yield,” he added.
Mr. Avenona disclosed that simultaneous implementation of CLTS and sanitation marketing activities led to the early adoption and construction of resilient latrines to avoid perennial latrine collapse.
On challenges they faced during the project implementation, Mr. Avenona told the gathering that one of the biggest challenges they encountered was issues of perennial water shortages in the dry season (linked to climate change) that affected the adoption of safe sanitation, hygiene practices, especially hand washing with soap.
“Again, the recent economic challenges and market volatility have resulted in price hikes of all construction inputs, slowing down resilient latrine uptake and the perennial collapse of rudimentary latrines due to incessant rainfall and flooding, among others,” he added.
The Integrated Community Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement (ICOWASH) project was a six year initiative which was divided into two phases: COWASH 1.0 (November 2017-October 2020) and COWASH 2.0 (November 2020-October 2024).
The 13.1 million-dollar project was funded by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.