World Vision, a leading child-focused international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has declared war on open defecation in its 25 operational Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across Ghana.
The World Vision’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Technical Coordinator, Attah Arhin disclosed this at a day’s workshop on the National Level Learning Alliance Platform Meeting (NLLAP) held in Accra.
The workshop which was organised by WaterAid Ghana (WAG) and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) in collaboration with the Resource Centre Network (RCN), an NGO was on the theme: ‘Opportunities for Knowledge Sharing Partnership Development via the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance’.
Why open defecation
We are now fighting open defecation because of the health hazards associated with it, he told African Eye Report at the sidelines of the workshop.
According to experts, open defecation refers to the practice whereby people go out in fields, bushes, forests, open bodies of water, or other open spaces rather than using the toilet to defecate.
One out of five (20 percent) Ghanaians practice open defecation, according to UNICEF. It projected that Ghana could take 500 years to eliminate the practice due to the slow pace at which strategies, laws and interventions are being implemented.
But World Vision said it is working in collaboration with the various MMDAs in its operational areas are working assiduously to eliminate it.
Public toilets
Contributing to the discussion, a Consultant at World Bank, Harold Esseku noted that public toilets in the country is the biggest challenge to sanitation in the country.
He revealed that about 52 percent of the Ghanaian population use public toilets while about 60 percent turn to “sharing” for their “nature calls”.
Mr Esseku therefore observed: “The public toilets are very expensive despite several attempts to reduce the cost”.
The Director of the Environmental Health Sanitation Directorate at the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Kweku Quansah stressed that the ministry is poised to work with all the stakeholders to ensure that the country is clean for all.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
