The Upper West Regional Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Sanitation (RICCS) has achieved a 70% Open Defecation Free (ODF) coverage of the region, with 815 out of 1,167 communities attaining ODF status. This news was revealed by Mr Sidik Yakubu, of the Upper West Regional Environmental Health and Sanitation Department (REHSD), during the RICCS meeting held in Wa. The meeting brought stakeholders and development partners in the sanitation sector together to discuss improving the sanitation situation in the region and ending open defecation.
Representatives from the Community Development Alliance (CDA), Global Communities, Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), Total Family Health Organisation, Vibrant Village Foundation, and Information Service Department attended the meeting under the auspices of the Regional Environmental Health and Sanitation Department (REHSD).
All 88 communities in the Nandom Municipality had attained ODF status, while 128 communities in the Nadowli-Kaleo District had attained ODF status out of 141 communities, representing a 94.3% ODF coverage of the district.
As part of efforts to improve the sanitation situation in the region, the EHSD had begun prosecuting sanitation offenders, with nine people currently being prosecuted in the Nadowli-Kaleo District. The Upper West Regional Coordinating Director, Mr Peter Maala, stressed the need for constructive collaboration between the stakeholders to help enhance the sanitation situation of the region.
He expressed hope that by the end of 2023, the region would achieve three districts wide ODF coverage, including the Nandom Municipality, which had already attained that status, and called for the concerted efforts of the stakeholders and partners to make that a success.
The Executive Director of CDA, Mr Salifu Issifu Kanton, reiterated the need for the government to increase its resource allocation to the sanitation sector, saying, “State investment in state agencies in charge of sanitation is dwindling over the years.” The stakeholders agreed on the importance of collaboration to sustain the progress made in the fight against open defecation in the region.