GWJN members urged to help government achieve universal access to safe water and improved sanitation

Members of the Ghana WASH Journalists Network (GWJN)have been urged to help national policy makers reshape the country’s policy direction towards achieving universal access to safe water and improved sanitation.

Leadership of GWJN also called on non-member journalists and the Ghanaian public to take interest in matters impacting sustainable water management, sanitation and hygiene in the country.

According to the non-profit media organization, though Ghanaian journalists have played a major role in the nation’s water, sanitation and hygiene agenda, yet much need to be done.

National Coordinator of the network, Justice Lee Adoboe made the call at a two-day National Delegates Trainer of Trainees Workshop held at Dodowa in the Greater Accra region.

The workshop under the theme: ‘’Building a Strong Media Coalition for Effective WASH Advocacy’’ brought together over 25 GWJN representatives from eight regions across Ghana.

They include WASH journalists from Ashanti, Bono, Eastern and Western regions. Others are representatives from the Greater Accra, Volta, Northern and Upper East regions.

Justice Adoboe noted journalists play a leading role in the socio-economic development of every society.

He opines that effective communication and accurate media reportage can have positive impact on the country’s development agenda.

The Trainer of Trainees Workshop sponsored by the Roddenberry Foundation’s +1 Global Fund took the journalists through various presentations on Ghana’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal Six [SDG6] and its related targets.

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The workshop focused on national success stories in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene [WASH] sector, persistent challenges and the way forward.

A senior Public Health Officer at the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources schooled participants on Ghana’s present sanitation situation in relation to the country’s 2021 Population and Housing Census(PHC).

Mr. Godfred Fiifi Boadi said Ghana over the past six years has made steady progress towards the global target of universal access to safe water and improved sanitation and hygiene.

He however, acknowledged that some challenges still remain.

Mr. Boadi pointed that access to basic drinking water in Ghana is estimated at 87.7 percent, according to the country’s 2021 population and housing census.

He explained that the figure represents 96.7 percent and 74.4 percent basic access for the urban and rural settlements respectively.

On the subject of sanitation, the public health officer disclosed that an estimated 1,477,747 households still lacked access to toilets.

Making reference to the Ghana Statistical Service [GSS] data, the Senior Public Health Officer further revealed that over 5 million out of 30,832,019 representing 17.7 percent of the Ghanaian population still practice open defecation.

He indicated that the country’s open defecation state dropped marginally over the past two decades.

Mr. Godfred Fiifi Boadi therefore challenged journalists and stakeholders to step up in their education, advocacy and awareness role on the negative impacts of open defecation.

The workshop also engaged delegates on how to strengthen the existing GWJN network in the various regions and plans to bring committed journalists of the newly created regions on board

Delegates are also expected to brief members of the network in their various regions on updates, insights and knowledge gained from the workshop.