This comprises €499,970 representing 80 per cent of the total amount from the EC and €124,982 making up a 20 per cent contribution from WaterAid Ghana (WAG), which secured the facility under the EC-NSA window in 2013.
The implementation period of the facility spans from 2014 to 2017 and would cover 10 communities apiece in the Gushegu District in the Northern Region, Bongo District in the Upper East Region and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in the Greater Accra Region.
Overall, the grant is expected to support 20,000 people in the communities and 10 civil service organisations (CSOs) in addition to the three district assemblies, in a project titled “Empowering citizens and civil society organisations to improve the delivery, equity and sustainability of water, sanitation and hygiene services.
Addressing a start-up workshop for the project in Accra on Tuesday, Head of Policy and Partnership, WAG, Mr Ibrahim Musah said the three districts were chosen because of their poor water, sanitation and hygiene situation.
He said Ghana was experiencing poor WASH situations in spite of its numerous policies and commitments, because of low public investments in WASH by local and national government, poor attitudes and behaviours by the general population on WASH issues and weak community-based processes.
Ibrahim Musah added that WASH and health linkages were also not appreciated, while there were weak monitoring and evaluation systems, adding that the overall objective of the project was “To strengthen civil society capacity as a prerequisite to promoting a more equitable society and reducing poverty.”
He said specifically, the project was aimed at increasing the capacity of local communities and civil society organisations, to effectively demand and monitor the provision of equitable WASH services, through evidence-based dialogue with duty bearers.
Expected outcomes of the project include increased access to equitable, sustainable and improved WASH for poor people, the development of culturally appropriate and replicable models for rural and peri-urban WASH service delivery and, improved responsiveness of government, private sector and other duty bearers to the demands of civil service organisations at all levels.
The main partners of the project are the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), the Integrated Action for Community Development (INTAGRAD) and the three district and municipal assemblies.
By Edmund Smith-Asante