Moving towards ODF society; Nandom a shining example

Nandom District in the Upper West Region has achieved 96 per cent household latrine coverage. Almost all residents now respond to nature's call in a more dignified manner.

The district, which used to rank low in the league table now has the highest performance rating among the 216 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana.

A total of 84 out of its 88 communities have already attained Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. The desire and motivation to push for district-wide ODF status within the shortest possible time has intensified.

Stakeholders are already envisaging the district becoming the first to attain ODF status in the whole of the country and become the pace setter.

Madam Felicia Aaniana, a 51-year-old resident of Nandom Airport Number Two, now has a latrine in her house and could not hide her joy when she spoke to this reporter.

'We used to have only one public toilet around our area, but because of its filthy nature many people resorted to defecating in the open', she said.

'Our environment at that time had become messed up with faecal matter which was producing pungent smell, especially at the beginning of the rainy season.'

Madam Aaniana, a sanitation volunteer in the community, said things had changed and everybody there was now having access to latrine and 'this has freed our environment of faeces and its related problems'.

'This household latrine concept is really beneficial and we as sanitation volunteers will continue to educate our people to understand the need to keep their latrines neat and safe so that they do not go back to the bad practice.'

Mr. Godfred Naalusegme, a 44-year-old Farmer from Pataal, spoke of how he nearly got bitten by a snake few years back but for the Wellington boos, he was wearing, as he attempted to defecate in the open.

He said apart from the danger, open defecation was also dehumanizing and affected their health as a people.

'Since I got my own household latrine, things have been very convenient in my household.'

The world need latrines, but currently billions of people do not have access to one. This means human faeces, on a massive scale, is not being captured and treated - contaminating the water and soil that sustain human life.

According to the 2017 Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of the United Nations (UN) Indicators, globally 4.5 billion people live without a safe toilet while 892 million people practice open defecation.

Additionally, 62.5 per cent of people around the world do not have access to safe sanitation while 1.8 billion people use a drinking water source that could be contaminated with faeces.

In Ghana, only 15 per cent of total population has access to safely managed toilet - meaning an estimated 24.5 million Ghanaians do not have access to safe toilet.

Also, an estimated 5.5 million Ghanaians representing 19 per cent of the total population practice open defecation which promotes faecal-related diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and typhoid.

About 26.9 percent of Ghanaians have access to safely managed water sources while an estimated 21 million of the population use a drinking water source that can be contaminated.

Mr. Eric Banye, SNV Country Programme Coordinator of the Voice for Change Partnership Project (V4CP), says, toilets save lives because human waste spreads killer diseases.

SNV started working in the Nandom District in 2014 with the Sustainable Sanitation and Hygiene for All (SSH4A) Project, which has resulted in increased access to and sustainable use of sanitation facilities.

The project has additionally influenced hygienic use and maintenance of sanitation facilities - access to hand washing with soap, progress on faecal sludge emptying and collection.

'I'm delighted to say that since the project inception in Nandom, 84 communities have been declared ODF', Mr. Banye said.

He stated that due to the exceptional performance of the district during the implementation, further funding was sought to support the district to push towards achieving the country's first District-wide ODF.

'The project has also introduced a low economic option of latrine construction called the 'SAFI' latrine and we have been training local artisans', something, he said, was giving jobs to the artisans.

'It's important that we construct latrines for our own health. Owing a latrine also brings dignity. I encourage all of us to construct latrines.'

The SNV believes that access to sanitation does not end at owning a latrine but how to safely manage the usage of the facility.

As an organization, they are also taking steps to make sure that existing institutional structures are supported through capacity building and advocacy.

Mr Bnaye said through the V4CP which was currently operational in eight districts including Nandom, the SNV sought to advocate for strong support including increased funding for the sanitation sector.

He highlighted the important role of the traditional authorities in bringing about a collective community action to end open defecation and invited them to take the centre stage.

Mr Nurudeen Ibrahim, Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) Advocacy and Policy Officer for Integrated Action for Community Development (INTAGRAD), a partner organisation in the implementation of the V4CP project, said it had helped the Nandom District Assembly to come out with a sanitation and hygiene bye-law, which was going to be passed before the close of the year.

He added that district level committees such as the District Planning Committee Unit (DPCU) and the District Interagency Coordinating Committee on Sanitation (DICCS) had all been strengthened.

Through the project, they had also strengthened the capacity of the Water and Sanitation Management Staff (WSMS), the District Sanitation and Hygiene Advocacy Teams (DSHAT) and institutionalized a District Reflection and Review Meeting on Sanitation and Hygiene for them to improve and sustain knowledge and awareness on sanitation and hygiene issues in the district.

They were also engaging with the private sector to get them to invest in the sanitation and hygiene sector.

He recommended full enforcement of the sanitation bye-laws by the assembly, identification and support to poor and vulnerable households to construct latrines, to ensure equity and inclusion in sanitation and hygiene delivery.

Madam Freda Naatu, the Upper West Regional Director of the Environmental Health Department, noted that Nandom had many communities than most of the districts in the region, yet it had been able to achieve such a mile stone.

She attributed this to the high level of commitment by the assembly and its stakeholders including development partners and traditional authorities.

She, however, pointed out that the district still had two protocols - sanitized and sustained sanitized levels, to cross before it would be declared an ODF District and should therefore not relax.

Madam Naatu insisted on strict enforcement of the law, especially, in the Nandom town in order to achieve the objective.

Open defecation, she said, was a big challenge in the region and appealed to other districts to learn from the example of Nandom by committing more resources and time to the fight so as to improve the health and quality of life of the people.

Mr Aasoglenang Thaddeus Arkum, the District Chief Executive (DCE), said notwithstanding the 96 per cent latrine coverage, they were still aware of the enormous task ahead in achieving district-wide ODF status.

To make that a dream come true, the assembly must begin to crack the whip on non-cooperating households to make sure that there was compliance.

It also required that they identified and assisted poor and vulnerable households to build their own latrines.

The DCE applauded SNV for the support, stressing that without that the success chalked by the district would not have been possible.

He was also grateful to traditional authorities for not only buying into the concept, but also helping the assembly to deal with environmental sanitation issues in the communities.

The task ahead is herculean, but given the burning desire of the people, stakeholders and development partners like SNV, achieving district-wide ODF status in the Nandom District is only a matter of time.