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UNICEF, Netherlands to help Ghana improve urban sanitation

Xinhua, June 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

The government of The Netherlands, through UNICEF, Tuesday launched a 5.9 million-Euro project aimed at improving access to sanitation in Ghana's urban areas.

Through the project, UNICEF and The Netherlands will reach at least 300,000 people in urban areas and almost 9,000 schoolchildren with improved, sustainable sanitation and water facilities as well as improved hygiene behaviors.

The project is a component of the Ghana-Netherlands WASH Program, a joint program between the two governments to address water, sanitation and waste issues in cities and to assist Ghana in reaching its sanitation target.

Despite Ghana's status as a middle-income country, a large proportion of Ghanaians, about 80 percent in the urban areas, still do not have access to improved sanitation.

The poor sanitation in Ghana is likely to be a significant factor in the 4,500 children who die annually as a result of diarrhea.

In urban communities, the disparities in access to sanitation are particularly acute, with the poor more than 12 times less likely to have access to improved sanitation.

"Disparities are largely what will get in the way of achieving sustainable universal access to improved sanitation," said Rushnan Murtaza, Acting UNICEF Representative in Ghana, in a release.

"This project looks to address these challenges through a combination of a targeted on-ground program to support sanitation in poor communities and schools and through the development of a national approach for urban household sanitation," Fred Smiet, First Secretary at The Netherlands Embassy in Accra, said.

Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region, Ho in the Volta, and Tamale in the Northern Regions are three urban settlements to benefit from this project.

It will also open new opportunities for private businesses -- a component of which will support entrepreneurs to build their capacities towards identifying appropriate sanitation technologies and services for the urban poor, and to turn them into viable businesses. Endi