Presidential Compact on WASH offers an opportunity to make a difference – Sanitation Minister

Ms. Lydia Seyram Alhassan, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, has disclosed that the Presidential Compact on WASH offers Ghana an opportunity to make a difference in positioning sustainable access to improved Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene services to stimulate the achievement of SDGs and socio-economic development in the country.

“We all have a stake in making this a reality—find where you belong in the Compact commitments and the WASH Sector Development Programme and play your part.

“The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) counts on your cooperation to build a country support package to drive the implementation of the compact,” Ms. Alhassan stated at the first of a series of High-Level Meetings on the Presidential Compact on WASH was organized by MSWR in Accra.

The High-Level Meeting on the Presidential Compact on WASH was attended by stakeholders from the government ministries, departments, and agencies, development partners, the Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODe), Civil Society Organizations, CONIWAS, IRC Ghana, UNDP, the private sector, and non-state actors.

Ms. Alhassan stressed that through “our collective efforts we will achieve the targets of universal water and sanitation and its related outcomes for everyone in Ghana.”

The Sanitation Minister explained that the Presidential Compact on WASH is a result of collaboration between state and non-state institutions and agencies, private sector entities, and an extensive consultative process with all major sector stakeholders.

“The outcome is a result of noticeable leadership provided by the Office of the President, the Ministry of Sanitation in collaboration with, and substantial inputs from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Health.

“The process was hugely coordinated and directed by the National Development Planning Commission,” Ms. Alhassan stated.

Speaking on the topic “Country Support Package on Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation for the Implementation of the Compact,” Mr Kwaku Quansah, MSWR Deputy Director, and the National SWA Focal Person called on Civil Society Organizations in the EASH Sector to partner with the government and other stakeholders to implement WASH interventions in a transparent and accountable manner.

He said the Ministry will lead the process of adhering to existing sector regulations and guidelines for promoting WASH initiatives and programmes and report to relevant MMDAs and national-level authorities.

Mr. Quansah said the Ministry will initiate and promote advocacy actions and mobilize civil society to complement WASH investment and interventions in hard- and difficult-to-reach communities.

The Presidential Compact on WASH was signed by the President of the Republic of Ghana and co-signed by the UN Resident Coordinator on August 28, 2024.

The document outlines the relevant commitments by the government and the role of major stakeholders, including DPs, CSOs, academia, the private sector, and the media, towards the achievement of the objectives of the Compact.

The initiative also responds to the Heads of State Initiative within the framework of Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), a global framework for action.

The signing of the Presidential Compact on WASH has given Ghana yet another good springboard to even deliver more, to enable the country to get closer to the national and, by extension, international targets.

It is a result of collaboration between state and non-state institutions and agencies, private sector entities, and an extensive consultative process with all major sector stakeholders.

An international partnership of national governments, donors, civil society organizations, and other development partners working together to galvanize political commitments to increase global access to sanitation and water.