CONIWAS Ghana Releases Press Statement to Commemorate the 2024 “World Toilet Day”
Accra, Ghana – November 19, 2024 – The Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) joins the global community in celebrating World Toilet Day, underscoring the importance of safe, accessible sanitation for health, dignity, and societal stability. It’s also an international day set aside to remind everyone about the millions of people globally who lack proper sanitation, -emphasizing the importance of safe, accessible sanitation for health, dignity, and societal stability. This year’s theme, “Toilets: A Place for Peace,” highlights the pressing need for sustainable and resilient sanitation solutions amid challenges such as climate change, conflict, and institutional neglect.
World Toilet Day, observed annually on November 19, serves as a call to action for the 3.5 billion people globally living without access to safely managed sanitation. In Ghana, CONIWAS remains steadfast in its mission to ensure potable water, improved sanitation, and hygiene services for all, especially the most marginalized, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) – “water and sanitation for all by 2030.”
Access to safe sanitation is fundamental not only to health and dignity but also to peace and stability in our communities. Therefore, as we confront ongoing issues from climate change to resource scarcity to urbanization, the need for robust, safe sanitation infrastructure is more urgent than ever.
The United Nations highlights that unsafe sanitation is a contributing factor to the deaths of around 1,000 children under five daily. The local theme for Ghana: “Toilet for Dignity, Health and Safety” emphasizes that toilets offer protection, serve as essential spaces of privacy and health, and play a crucial role in reducing disease transmission.
In Ghana, although the country has made steady progress in improving water access with 88% of people accessing basic service (close to the global average of 90%), the sanitation situation is rather very poor, with only 25% having access to basic services, about 57% using shared or public facilities and 18% still defecating in open defecation (PHC, 2021)
Safely managed sanitation is critical for reducing child mortality, increasing education among children, improving nutrition, enhancing human dignity, especially for women and girls, and providing job opportunities to the youth.
The recent report of 47 cholera cases across 11 districts in Ghana, resulting in the deaths of 7 individuals, serves as a wake-up call for all Ghanaians to take action on sanitation in our own small ways.
The Government of Ghana and its partners have been contributing in various ways to ensure households have access to safe toilets and improved health in Ghana. We acknowledge the great work of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) through the GAMA project to provide sanitation facilities to households, as well as working with several private sector partners to develop sanitation treatment plants to complement the sanitation value chain.
We are also happy about the Government’s commitments through the signing of the presidential compact which seeks to establish the National Sanitation Authority (NSA) and other development that is aimed at accelerating access to sanitation. It is imperative that the government and stakeholders in the sector prioritize investment in Sanitation infrastructure. We by this, re-echoing previous calls to the government to continue its work towards increasing investment in sanitation by accelerating the process of establishing the National Sanitation Authority and the National Sanitation Fund to propel sanitation services in Ghana.
We recognize the work of CONIWAS members and all other development partners in their efforts to complement the government’s efforts by supporting the delivery of sanitation services in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas in Ghana. Even though Ghana is off-track in attaining the SDGs, we still need to accelerate progress and we can do so by working together.
In line with the theme, CONIWAS calls for:
– Increased investment in resilient sanitation systems that withstand environmental sand climate shocks and human-made conflicts.
– Enhanced hygiene education to reduce sanitation related preventable diseases such as cholera.
– Support for vulnerable communities to gain equitable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
CONIWAS encourages Ghanaians to take action by supporting local sanitation initiatives, advocating for increased funding in WASH sectors, and promoting awareness about the importance of sanitation in every community. Together, we can build a future where safe, accessible sanitation is not a privilege but a right for all.
Thank you!!
Executive Secretary
Accra, November 19, 2024
About Us
The Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) is a membership-based umbrella CSO formed in 2003 to advocate for improved access to WASH services by the poor vulnerable and marginalized population especially women and children. CONIWAS engages in WASH Sector activities using evidence-based actions gathered through its research agenda and experiences from its members most of whom.
