Calls for water and sanitation facilities to be provided as part of the of the Ghana School Feeding Programme

Calls for water and sanitation facilities to be provided as part of the of the Ghana School Feeding Programme

More than half of the 116 Schools under the Ghana School Feeding Programme in the Northern part of the country do not have access to water and sanitation [WASH] facilities. In view of the consequences of the situation on school attendance, Civil Society Organizations {CSOs} in Tamale have urged government to review the document piloting the Ghana School Feeding Programme {GSFP} to mandate the secretariat to provide water and sanitation facilities to such schools as part of the scheme.

The civil society groups, that are, New Energy, Plan Ghana, Dutch Development Organization, Send Foundation, Action-Aid, IBIS, TRIAS Ghana, IBIS and others say that the non-availability of WASH facilities in the schools compel pupils to walk long distances for hours during teaching periods to fetch water from rivers and streams to fill water tanks to wash their hands, drink and for cooking by caterers before being served their meals.

These civil society working group contend that the situation has affected school attendance decline, and makes pupils not to sit in classrooms for teaching and learning but rather roam through communities and the scorching sun searching for water for use in schools.       

The forum was on the theme, “charting a way forward on how to address the water and sanitation issues affecting the Ghana school feeding programme”.

 

In this vein, Chairperson of the working group Adama Jehanfo at a workshop in Tamale on recently} for stakeholders in the WASH sector to find ways of addressing the situation said the effects of the non-existence of WASH facilities in the region posse severe consequences to the development of the youth especially the “girl child” . Madam Jehanfo called  n  government to collaborate with stakeholders to find other alternatives to address the problem.

“Most often when the GSFP is mentioned a picture of children being served with meals is what comes into mind but the host of activities that take place before the food is served need to be critically looked at because of the diverse negative impact on health and quality of education,” she said.

The chairperson noted that the availability of water and WASH facilities in schools throughout the country was critical to the success of the GSFP as no cooking could be done without water and also there is the high possibility of pupils falling sick from drinking contaminated water from ponds.

A recent research conducted by SEND Ghana indicated that 43 percent of schools on the GSFP in the region do not have access to safe drinking water, 83 percent of the schools had been supplied with water tanks by the programme but are always empty, and 37 percent were of these water tanks were not in use due to operational challenges.

The report also revealed that 26 percent of the schools have no access to toilet facilities, 35 percent lacked urinals whiles 87 percent of the schools lacked hand washing facilities. 

Due to these alarming figures, the Northern Regional Director of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, Wigbert Dogoli, called for a national policy to provide water and sanitation facilities to schools in the country.

However he said, “before this plan is carried out nationwide , district assemblies should consciously include the provision of WASH facilities in their policies.

Report by Patrick Baidoo of the Ghanaian Times  

Toilet is serious business - Deputy Minister

Imagine life without a toilet. Imagine the mess. Imagine the disease. This is why Hon Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), has called on Ghanains to treat the discussion of toilets as "serious business."
The Deputy Minister wants citizens to refrain from laughing about discussions centred on toilets and view it as an important topic for public discourse.

Life will be impossible without four activities - emptying of the bowels, breathing, drinking water and urinating, the Deputy Minister told a gathering at the Nima Cluster of Schools compound where he took part in a symbolic "Queue for Toilet" activity as part of the World Toilet Day which fell on Thursday November 19.
The day was organized jointly by the MLGRD, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing in collaboration with organisations such as Water Aid Ghana. It was under the theme Stop Open defaecation, use toilets".

Mr Afriyie Ankrah also symbolically used the East Ayawaso Sub Metro (AMA) Toilet No 12B together with Dr Hanna Bissiw, a Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing.
Quoting latest official statistics published by the Joint Monitoring Platform (JMP), Mr Afriyie Ankrah said "Ghana's sanitation coverage stands at 11% at the end of 2008."

In other words, he said, "only 11% of Ghanaians have access to an improved latrine for defaecation...a latrine that confines faeces safely, which hygienically separates faeces from human contact..."

The 2000 Population and Housing Census estimated that more than 20% of Ghanaians do not have any form of latrines and therefore resort to open defaecation. The Census also estimated that 31.45% of households in Ghana use public latrines as compared to 8.5% using Water Closet. 22% use pit latrines while 6.9% utilize KVIP. Bucket or pan latrine serves 4% while 6.9% of the population attends nature's call in other people's houses.

According to the MLGRD's Environmental Sanitation Policy of 1999, at least 90% of the population should have access to acceptable domestic toilet while the remaining 10% should have access to hygienic public toilets.

Meanwhile, Mr Alexander Tetteh, Executive Director, Centre for Employment of Persons With Disabilities and a physically disabled person, has called for public toilets which are disability-friendly.

This was after he failed in an attempt to symbolically use the East Ayawaso Sub Metro (AMA) Toilet No 12B facility on World Toilet Day.

There was neither a ramp for his wheelchair to go over nor a seat for use. Only those who could squat could use it but this was impossible for a physically disabled person.
Miss Janet Lamisi Dabire, Communication and Campaign Officer of Water Aid Ghana, supported the deputy minister's call to treat toilet as serious business.

She said she was intrigued that people made fun of her anytime she called them to remind them of the World Toilet Day.


Author: Frederick Asiamah

Culled from the Public Agenda

http://www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=14154

Toilets are unfriendly to the disabled

Toilets are unfriendly to the disabled

It is estimated that 10% of Ghana's population suffer from some form of disability with the blind, deaf and physically disabled people being the most visible. According to the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) papers, the 10% of the population living with disabilities are indeed amongst the poorest of the poor.
In a 2007 publication, SEND-Ghana noted that poverty of persons with disability (PWDs) is characterized by landlessness, unemployment, illiteracy, homelessness and political powerlessness.
It is reasonable to suggest that the disabled, being poor, would find it most difficult to put up their own homes with toilets. They may rent rooms, live with relatives or even friends. In worst case scenarios, some PWDs are forced to become squatters or slum dwellers.
The big question is whether they will have access to decent toilets to exercise a very important human right - to empty their bowels. The 2000 Population and Housing Census estimated that more than 20% of Ghanaians do not have any form of latrines and therefore resort to open defaecation. The Census established that 31.45% of households in Ghana use public latrines as compared to 8.5% using Water Closet. 22% use pit latrines while 6.9% utilize KVIP. Bucket or pan latrine serves 4% while 6.9% of the population attends nature's call in other people's houses.
The figures from the Census show that Ghana is far from achieving targets set in the MLGRD's Environmental Sanitation Policy of 1999. the policy is unequivocal on households and public toilets; the policy states that at least 90% of the population should have access to acceptable domestic toilet while the remaining 10% should have access to hygienic public toilets.
While the world observed 'Toilet Day' on November 19, Ghana marked the day under the theme "Stop Open defaecation, use Toilets." Two deputy ministers - Hon Elvis Afriyie Ankrah of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and Dr Hanna Bissiw of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing - symbolically used the East Ayawaso Sub Metro (AMA) Toilet No 12B.
After them, Mr Alexander Tetteh, Executive Director, Centre for Employment of Persons With Disabilities and a physically disabled person, also tried to use the facility which has an entrance measuring a yard-and-a-quarter. Alas! He was not able to use it. It was simply inaccessible. There was no ramp for his wheelchair to go over.
And even if he was able to entre the facility, he could not have squatted to "poopoo." So for many people like Mr Tetteh, there are obvious questions about the existence of an all-encompassing sanitation policy. The current design of the majority of public toilets ensures that PWDs who have no access to toilets are denied their right to empty their bowels.
Mr Tetteh expressed his frustration to media personnel. He said it was worrying that the facility was not a water closet. He noted that similar facilities like "this are all over." He called on authorities to make public toilets disability-friendly.
His call resonates with the provisions of the Persons With Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715). Section 60 of the Act stipulates, "The owner or occupier of an existing building to which the public has access shall within ten years of the commencement of this Act make the building accessible to and available for use by a person with disability."
The Act is more than three years old; only seven years remain for meeting the moratorium. It is unclear when this particular toilet facility was provided but three years is certainly enough time to have noticed the defect in the facility.
In 2007, SEND-Ghana noted that safety measures and interventions were included in the GPRS II but many new public physical infrastructures were not disability friendly. "For example they do not have facilities for persons utilizing wheel chairs to enter unassisted."
SEND-Ghana points out that the need for government to enforce policies on disabled access to physical infrastructure to public facilities cannot be overemphasized. "We demand that government put in place an appropriate monitoring system to ensure that...all public buildings have disability friendly toilets, entrance and exit facilities."

Author: Frederick Asiamah

Culled from the Public Agenda

http://www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=14168