Three companies win SDG Challenge Prize Grants

Accra, July 20, GNA - Saha Global, TREND and CONIWAS, non-governmental organisations in the water sector, have each won the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Philanthropy Platform Challenge Prize Grants in the three intervention pathways to address water challenges.

Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources and Mr Dominic Sam, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Director, jointly presented the awards to each of the three selected organisations: Saha Global $32,000, TREND $40,000 and CONIWAS $40,000.

Ms Morganne Hodsdon, Expansion Co-ordinator, Sahal Global; Mr Eugene Larbi, Managing Director, TREND Group; and Mrs Victoria Norgbey, CONIWAS - Executive Council Member received the awards on the behalf of their organisations.

Saha Global won the category for the challenge to find demand-driven business models for accountably-managed systems to deliver affordable, safe water, effectively challenging community perceptions of free water.

Saha Global seeks to expand getting the cleanest water to the rural poor by utilising basic materials to treat contaminated water.

Through this approach, Saha Global creates 'waterpreneurs' of vulnerable women in rural areas.

Under it local women are trained on how to run the business, mentored over time, and closely monitor water quality and consumption.

TREND won the category for a challenge to create an adaptable participatory model to standardised water system quality control in rural, peri-urban and small towns in Ghana.

This project seeks to promote the concept of water Safety Plan (WSP) as a key strategy for improving water services delivery in Ghana.

TREND would work closely with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to advocate integration of WSPs in sector activities and develop replicate tools for capacity building within the Sector and within Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to ensure uptake and replicability of the WSP concept.

CONIWAS was declared winner of the challenge to identify schemes to provide reliable safe water access to the most vulnerable household in every community.

The project involves three important elements in addressing challenges from systemic perspectives.

These include reviewing and aligning national standards and guidelines within the SDGs in concert with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, the CWSA, as well as relevant stakeholders.

It covers analysis of existing boreholes in rural areas to determine which ones have sufficient yields to enable mechanisation and piping to households and providing the basis for extending pipe connections to rural households.

The SDG philanthropy Platform is a global initiative that was launched in 2014 by philanthropy and the greater international developments community led UNDP, Foundation Centre and Rockefeller Advisors, with the objective of facilitating philanthropy's engagements and fostering dialogue between philanthropy and development stakeholders to continue to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The platform is funded by Conrad n. Hilton Foundation, Ford Foundation, Master Card Foundation, Branch Charitable Foundation, and UN Foundation.

The Platform is being implemented in eight countries: Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Columbia, Indonesia, Brazil, the United States and India. China would launch later in the year.

Mr Sam said since the launch of the Platform in Ghana in July 2015, and subsequent stakeholders consultation workshop in December of the same year, the Platform had catalyse the engagement of philanthropy in the context of national and sub-national development planning as well as multi-stakeholder partnerships and accelerating specific catalytic SDG collaborations.

He said the platform sought to promote how philanthropy could better align with national development priorities, promoting the enabling environment for local and global grant-making foundations to effectively engage with government and relevant development actors.

He said the three organisations emerged winners out of more than 20 applicants; and urged them to live up expectations.

Mr Adda commended the SDGs Philanthropy Platform for their good works; and appealed to the award winners to use the funds judiciously for the benefits of Ghanaians.

He appealed to Ghanaians to promote the concept of philanthropy in the country; stating that government alone could not address the challenges in the water and sanitation sectors.

He said government was committed to addressing all challenges saddling the water and sanitation sectors of the economy.

GNA

By Iddi Yire, GNA