News

MASTERCARD FOUNDATION AND WATERAID GHANA PARTNER TO PROMOTE GOOD HYGIENE PRACTICES TO PREVENT SPREAD OF COVID-19

Good hygiene practices and the observation of safety protocols remain some of the most effective ways to prevent COVID-19 infections. In recognition of this, the Mastercard Foundation and WaterAid Ghana (WAG) have announced the launch of a campaign to promote good hygiene in public places, including markets and bus terminals in several districts in the country

Drawing lessons from WASH success stories in Ghana

Ghana's development aspirations are aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 6, which ensures the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, is a challenge since in 2017 19% of the population did not yet have access to at least a basic level of water services and only 36% were using safely managed water accessible on the premises. Almost one in five (18%) of the population was still practising open defecation. Service sustainability has been further challenged by the large number of non-functional water systems.

The same capacities that help us adapt to COVID-19 can be used to face climate change

The big climate change summit was due to be held in Glasgow, Scotland later this year but then COVID-19 came along, the conference centre was converted into a field hospital and the meeting was postponed. We will have to wait until November 2021 for the global community to make progress and agree on solutions to the climate crisis through that platform. But while we have to wait another year for stronger multi-lateral action, there are, as we discussed in our last Amplify, parallels in tackling COVID-19 and climate change and lessons to learn. All the current pain, stress and extra work in tackling COVID-19 may yet serve us well in adapting to the even bigger threat that is climate change.

Launch of Good practice for WASH in Ghana booklet

National Development Planning Commission - NDPC in collaboration with IRC and partners is disseminating the findings and is further engaging relevant stakeholders on the stories starting with the launch of the Good Practice for WASH in Ghana booklet

Decolonisation of WASH knowledge: addressing institutional bias

COVID-19 and #BlackLivesMatter are a wake-up call for leaders to take a closer look at WASH knowledge generation.

Funding WASH Systems during COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented on all areas of peoples lives globally, on a scale barely imagined only a few months ago. From the ever growing infection rates and death toll as the virus travelled around the world, to the light it shined on the huge disparities of impact on different populations as, on the one hand, day labourers struggled to feed themselves and their families whilst in lock-down with no resources, whilst others hoarded toilet paper...

Water vendors boost income through kiosk sales

One innovation in Asutifi North has been the introduction of kiosks at water points where vendors sell a range of sanitation products. The kiosks not only provide shelter from the sun and rain but improve the livelihoods of water vendors and help to make water systems more sustainable.

Health centre no longer has to ‘queue’ for infection control

Vivian Kumah has been the lead nurse in charge of the community health planning and service centre at Gambia No 1 for about four and half years – and getting water had been a problem for almost the whole of that time.

Five-star toilets help health centre set new standards of hygiene

Some of the cleanest and smartest toilets in the whole Bongo district are found at Foe Community Health and Planning Services (CHPS). This community health post serves more than 2,280 people in four communities across an area stretching up to the border with Burkina Faso.

Wassa East: Communities show they will pay for clean, pure water

Pure water has become a powerful selling point for communities in the Wassa East district of Ghana, proving that people will indeed pay for water if they can be sure it is safe. Four years ago (2016), a little over half of the population of Wassa East (56%) in the Western Region had access to safe water, a situation the Wassa East Chief Executive, Hon. Wilson Arthur, described as “scary”.

Vacancy - Program Officer WASH

IRC Ghana, an international think-and-do tank that works with governments, NGOs, businesses and people around the world to find long-term solutions to the global crisis in water, sanitation and hygiene services and integrated water resources management (IWRM) is looking for a dynamic, well organized and result-oriented person to fill the position of: Program Officer WASH.

Opinion: A complex WASH sector could hamper Ghana’s fight against COVID-19

As part of the war against COVID-19, Ghana has taken several actions: President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo established a coronavirus fund to alleviate hardship and donated three months of his own salary, while a separate 1.2 billion Ghanaian cedi (over $205 million) Coronavirus Alleviation Programme includes funds to pay for water bills for all Ghanaians for three months — from April to June — and to provide water tanker services to vulnerable communities.

COVID19: the need for a progressive and coordinated CSO response – Reflections from Ghana WASH CSOs

On Thursday May 7, 2020, the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) in collaboration with the Resource Centre Network (RCN) and through the Watershed programme organized a webinar under the RCN National Level Alliance Platform (NLLAP) to discuss the role and response of Ghana’s Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the wake of the unfolding reality of Covid-19.

Poverty Kills

Every now and again the rich world has its nose rubbed in the true meaning of poverty. The coronavirus pandemic is but the latest example. We need to make sure it's the last. As I write, aid agencies around the world are trying to ramp up their reaction to COVID-19. Yet my fear is that all this frenetic activity may do little more than underline the brutal reality that there is really not a lot we can do at short notice. Or rather, that the meaningful work we can do, of reinforcing basic public health messaging and measures, is going to seem woefully inadequate.

Open letter from African intellectuals to leaders over COVID-19

Prominent thinkers urge continent's leaders to use coronavirus pandemic crisis as opportunity to spur 'radical change

RCN goes Virtual

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the whole world, the Resource Centre Network (RCN) has postponed all face-face NLLAP meetings until advised otherwise. To cope with this and keep our community active, the RCN has launched an online learning platform to keep the doors of sharing and learning open in these unprecedented times.

Ghana Standards Authority certifies solar automated hand washing machine

The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has granted a product certification for the solar powered automated hand washing machine invented by a Ghanaian to encourage safe hand-washing practices. The product, manufactured by Mr Richard Kwarteng, a resident of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, enables individuals to wash their hands under running water without touching the tap or knob of the water receptacle

What does a COVID-19 response look like with limited water?

NAIROBI — As the World Health Organization echoes some of its key advice around preventing the spread of COVID-19 — washing hands regularly or using an alcohol-based rub — many are wondering what this means for people around the world with limited access to water.

Opinion: COVID-19 a collective failure, an unprecedented opportunity

Closure of Europe and high-income countries in peacetime may be unprecedented, but the war against preventable diseases such as COVID-19, cholera, polio, measles, and Ebola has long been raging for the 3 billion people who lack basic hand-washing facilities in their homes

Evaluation of the User Experience of Container Based Sanitation Service of Clean TeamGhana

I-San UK in collaboration with Resource Centre Network (RCN) are organised a National Level Learning Alliance Platform (NLLAP) workshop on “Evaluation of the User Experience of Container Based Sanitation Service of Clean Team Ghana”. I-San UK conducted a study on Evaluation of the User Experience of Container Based Sanitation (CBS) Service of Clean Team Ghana in Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.

Implementing practical transition management for improving access to WASH services and groundwater management: case of Dodowa, Ghana

The Department of Civil Engineering and the Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre Kumasi (RWESCK) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in collaboration Resource Centre Network (RCN) held a workshop on 'implementing practical transition management for improving access to Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) services and groundwater self-supply'

IRC hosts Second National Learning Exchange on District-wide initiatives for SDG6

Accra, Ghana, December 10, 2019 - IRC Ghana, WaterAid Ghana and Water4/ Access Development, in collaboration with their respective target District Assemblies - Asutifi North in the Ahafo Region, Bongo in the Upper East Region and Wassa East Municipal in the Western Region, jointly convened the second national learning exchange on district-wide initiative focused on strengthening strong local systems to deliver safe and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for everyone.

A shared vision on the road to full WASH coverage

It is an exciting day in Panaaba, a farming community in the Asutifi North District of the newly created Ahafo Region in Ghana. The people led by Nana Attakorah Amaniapong, a representative of the Chief of Panaaba, are gathered under a mango tree to welcome two guests from the Conrad Hilton Foundation; Vice President of Strategy and Programs – Marc J. Holley, and Senior Program Officer - Chris Dunston.

World Vision launches School's Sanitation Solution Challenge

World Vision has launched a Schools Sanitation Solution challenge to encourage students to write an open letter to the President of the Republic of Ghana and to identify a major sanitation problem in their schools or communities.

Budget Tracking and Analysis of WASH Expenditure in Bongo and Kassena Nankana West Districts

The Resource Centre Network (RCN), in collaboration with WaterAid Ghana organized a national dissemination meeting on “Budget Tracking and Analysis of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Expenditure in Bongo and Kassena Nankana West Districts,” on Thursday, August 22, 2019 at the Coconut Grove Hotel in Accra at 9am. Find below synopsis of budget tracking and analysis of WASH expenditure in Bongo and Kassena Nankana West District.

Pages