Ghana - Community-Led Total Sanitation
GHANA- Situational analysis on CLTS/SLTS/ULTS
Contents
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1.
Ghana Fact overview
Population : 24,000,000 pop in 2010 (Gov of Ghana). 46% urban; 54% rural
GDP/capita PPP : 1,600$US in 2010 (IMF)
Main economic activities : Agriculture (37% of total economic activity), Oil, Cocoa, Timber,
Electricity, Diamond, Bauxite and Manganese
Major cultural groups : Ashanti , Fante , Akyem , Kwahu , Ga , Ewe , Mamprusi and Dagomba , among others
Religions : Christian, animist
Political regime : Presidential republic
Geographical context : Tropical climate, 4 geographical regions (Low plains, Ashanti Uplands,
Volta Bassin, High plains)
2.
Sanitation overview
Figures
Rural sanitation (broad definition) 11%
Urban sanitation 27%
Ghana aims at achieving 85% coverage for water supply and sanitation by 2015, which would exceed the Millennium Development Goals' target of 78%
Responsible authority for sanitation
Urban areas: Ghana Water Company Ltd and other private agencies
Rural areas: The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development shares responsibility for setting sanitation policies and coordinating funding for the subsector with MWRWH.
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) is an independent agency coordinating efforts with district authorities
Policies/strategies in place
National Water Policy (NWP) in 2008, which focuses on the three strategic areas: (i) water resources management; (ii) urban water supply; and (iii) community water and sanitation.
National Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP) in rural areas, which is carried out directly by the communities and their District Assemblies. The NCWSP focuses on three main objectives in order to achieve health improvements: safe water supply, hygiene education, and improved sanitation.
Challenges in country
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In communities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, water supply systems are owned and managed by the respective community on a demand-driven basis. According to the NCWSP, these systems do not receive any cross-subsidies and 5% of the cost of providing the facility is paid by the operating community. Therefore, the rural communities and small towns form gender-balanced voluntary groups which are represented by elected water and sanitation boards, including one or two village-based caretakers who received special training in repair and maintenance. Communities and the CWSA are enabled to contract external actors, such as private sector consultants or NGOs, to provide technical assistance, goods, or services.
Local artisans are used to provide household latrines.
Major ongoing programmes/initiatives
History of CLTS in Ghana
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Plan, UNICEF and WaterAid have been piloting CLTS since 2007 in approximately 237 communities in Ghana in an attempt to scale up hygiene and sanitation improvements. The pilot activities were in the Northern,
Upper West, Eastern, Central and Greater Accra Regions. In addition, a case study of
Oboyambo community in Central region of Ghana on children’s involvement in community-led total sanitation was conducted by ?
3.
Pan Africa CLTS programme in Ghana
Target population
20, 000 people from 50 communities and 25 schools; in the Upper West Region, Central Region,
Volta Region and Eastern Region (Districts of Sissala West, Wa municipal, Agona East, Abura Assebu
Kwamankese, and South Tongu Upper Manya Krobo)
Specific objectives/country:
Overall objective:
Within five years, the overall objective of the project is to reduce sanitation related illnesses, improve knowledge and skills and enhance sanitation services for 50 rural communities in Ghana
Specific objectives:
1.
Terminate indiscriminate defecation in 200 project communities in 5 districts in Ghana by facilitating the implementation of CLTS
2.
Promote proper waste management through facilitating community led sanitation action and management systems for200 rural communities
3.
Promote proper hygiene in project communities through education, sensitization and awareness district workshops for the beneficiary communities
4.
Improve the health, living standards and long-term viability of the beneficiary rural communities by providing reliable, convenient access to clean water
5.
Build capacity and networks in strengthening CLTS/SLTS in the six program areas.
Progress (in 2010):
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1.
45 communities and 20 schools have been triggered successfully include one (1) peri-urban community in the Northern sector
2.
Networks and collaboration with various national and international
Challenges (in 2010):
1.
Plan Ghana old approach was based on subsidy
2.
Taboo days in some communities coinciding with market days in the area- this affects mobilization
3.
Competing for community time and interest
4.
Promotion of subside by some NGOs in some of the project communities and neighbouring communities
4.Institutional mapping
Government agencies
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
Water Directorate of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing
CWSA
Major donors
Majors INGOs
WaterAid Ghana ,
Plan Ghana,
Major local NGOs
Other relevant actor
District Water and Sanitation Teams (DWST) at the district level, consisting of an engineer, a hygiene expert, and a community mobilizer.
5.
Already existing platforms (networks, LAs)
RCN Ghana
Level: national
Frequency of meeting, location (if constant)
Actors involved, leaders: TREND, WaterAid Ghana, KUNST, Water Research Institute. Supported by IRC
Contact organisation/person: http://www.ghana.watsan.net
List of ongoing topics
WASH learning alliance –Same as RCN?
Level: national
Frequency of meeting, location (if constant)
Actors involved, leaders
Contact organisation/person
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List of ongoing topics/issues discussed
National CLTS task force:
Level: National
Frequency of meeting, location (if constant)
Actors involved, leaders
Contact organisation/person
List of ongoing topics/issues
CONIWAS:
The Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), created in 2001, "works in partnership with sector players to influence policies, remove barriers and promote access to potable water, sanitation and improved hygiene for the poor and vulnerable." According to the coalition, giving NGOs one voice for advocacy and lobbying has been one of its major benefits.
Level: National
Frequency of meeting, location (if constant)
Actors involved, leaders
Contact organisation/person
List of ongoing topics/issues
Water Directorate: Not a platform
Level: National
Frequency of meeting, location (if constant)
Actors involved, leaders
Contact organisation/person
List of ongoing topics/issues
WASH journalist: is it a platform? Network?
Level:
Frequency of meeting, location (if constant)
Actors involved, leaders
Contact organisation/person
List of ongoing topics/issues
Local District water and Sanitation team: is it a platform? Network?
Level: District
Frequency of meeting, location (if constant)
Actors involved, leaders
Contact organisation/person
List of ongoing topics/issues
District SHEP: is it a platform? Network?
Level: District
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Frequency of meeting, location (if constant)
Actors involved, leaders
Contact organisation/person
List of ongoing topics/issues
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6.
Background information- Ghana
1.
Introduction
The Republic of Ghana is a country located in West Africa . It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire
(Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King" and is derived from the ancient Ghana
Empire .
Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient predominantly Akan
Kingdoms, including the Akwamu on the eastern coast, the inland Ashanti Empire and various Fante and non-Akan states, like the Ga and Ewe , along the coast and inland. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century, and the British established the Gold Coast Crown colony in 1874.
The Gold Coast achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so [7][8][9] and the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana, which once extended throughout much of west Africa. Ghana is a member of the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone , the
Commonwealth of Nations , the Economic Community of West African States , the African
Union , and an associate Member of La Francophonie . Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world and is also home to Lake Volta , the largest artificial lake in the world by surface area.
2. Water and sanitation sector
The water supply and sanitation sector in Ghana faces severe problems, partly due to a neglect of the sector until the 1990s. Tariffs were kept at a low level which was far from reflecting the real cost of the service. Economic efficiency still remains below the regional average, resulting in a lack of financial resources to maintain and extend the infrastructure.
Since 1994, the sector has been gradually modernized through the creation of an autonomous regulatory agency, introduction of private sector participation, and decentralization of the rural supply to 138 districts, where user participation is encouraged.
The reforms aim at increasing cost recovery and a modernization of the urban utility Ghana
Water Company Ltd. (GWCL), as well as of rural water supply systems.
Another problem which partly arose from the recent reforms is the existence of a multitude of institutions with overlapping responsibilities. The National Water Policy (NWP), launched at the beginning of 2008, seeks to introduce a comprehensive sector policy.
The water supply and sanitation infrastructure is insufficient, especially in rural areas and concerning sanitation. There are substantial discrepancies between access data from various sources, partially because of different definitions being used by different institutions that are providing access data. According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation of UNICEF and WHO access is as follows:
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Broad definition 88%
Urban
(46% of the population) (54% of the population)
64%
Rural
Total
75%
Water
House connections 37%
Sanitation [1]
Broad definition 27%
Sewerage 13%
4%
11%
2%
19%
18%
7%
However, according to the multi-donor Africa MDG assessment access to an improved water sources is much lower (56%) and access to improved sanitation is higher (35%).
The share of non-functional supply systems in Ghana is estimated at almost one third, with many others operating substantially below designed capacity. Moreover, domestic water supply competes with a rising demand for water by the expanding industry and agriculture sectors. Ghana aims at achieving 85% coverage for water supply and sanitation by 2015, which would exceed the Millennium Development Goals' target of 78%.
3.
History on water and sanitation
In 1928, the first piped water supply system was constructed at Cape Coast. The Water
Supply Division of the Public Works Department was responsible for the service provision in rural and urban areas of Ghana. After Ghana's independence in 1957, the division was separated from the Public Works Department and placed under the Ministry of Works and
Housing. In 1965, it was transformed into the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation
(GWSC), a legal public utility responsible for the provision of urban and rural water supply for public, domestic, and industrial purposes as well as the establishment, operation, and control of sewerage systems.
Since 1993, various reforms have been introduced to address the problems of the sector.
The key objectives of the reforms were to separate rural and urban service, to introduce independent regulatory agencies, and to promote private sector participation.
In order to pay more attention to water supply and sanitation in rural areas, the Community
Water and Sanitation Division was founded as a semi-autonomous division of GWSC in 1994.
Four years later, it changed its name to the Community Water and Sanitation Agency
(CWSA) and became fully independent. In 1999, the GWSC was replaced by the publicly owned GWCL. At the same time, the responsibility for rural water supply and sanitation was decentralized to the District Assemblies. In addition, sanitation was separated from water supply and became a responsibility of the District Assemblies in urban and rural areas.
As a result, the GWCL remained responsible only for urban water supply, whereas more than 110 small towns' water systems were transferred to District Assemblies, which receive support from the CWSA. In terms of sanitation, District Assemblies are responsible in urban
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and rural areas. In the latter case, a demand-driven and community-managed approach was introduced.
The regulation of water supply has been shifted from the government to independent agencies. Two commissions were created in 1997 to regulate the sector: The Public Utilities
Regulatory Commission (PURC) has been developed to formulate and approve appropriate pricing mechanisms aimed at full cost recovery, since the government began to phase out the subsidization of water services in 2003. The PURC has no authority over communitymanaged water systems and only regulates GWCL services. Besides the provision of tariff guidelines and the examination and approval of tariffs, it protects the interests of consumers and providers, promotes fair competition, and initiates, conducts, and monitors standards concerning the provided service.
Whereas the PURC takes responsibility for economic regulation of urban water supply and sanitation, the Water Resources Commission (WRC) regulates water resources: it is in charge of licensing water abstraction and wastewater discharges.
3.1.
21st century
To carry out the private sector participation of GWCL, originally a 10-year lease contract was envisaged . In 2000, a lease contract between GWCL and the US company Azurix failed due to public opposition and accusations of corruption which led to the formation of the
Coalition against Water Privatization.
In October 2006, under the framework of the Urban Water Project (see below) a five-year management contract was signed between the GWCL and AVRL. The main objectives of this private sector participation are:
Extending reliable water supply especially to low-income areas
Making potable water affordable for low-income consumers
Increasing cost recovery
Ensuring investments based on low-cost and concession financing
Supporting further involvement of the private sector
Reducing non-revenue water
Increasing water treatment
The project is financed by the World Bank, the Nordic Development Fund and the Republic of Ghana (see below).
In March 2008, severe water shortages in Accra were reported, leading Boniface Abubakar
Saddique, the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, to review whether AVRL is working in compliance with the management contract. However, he explained that the reason for the shortages was unforeseen power outages at two water treatment plants in
Weija and Kpong. Saddique stated that the overall situation will improve notably by the end of 2008 due to several new boreholes and a more stable power supply.
3.2.
National Water Policy
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To overcome the lack of coordination between the numerous institutions which were created since 1993, Saddique launched a National Water Policy (NWP) at the end of
February 2008, which focuses on the three strategic areas: (i) water resources management;
(ii) urban water supply; and (iii) community water and sanitation.
Although the sector has made substantial progress, a lack of coherence in policy formulation resulted in a multitude of implementation strategies which led to new problems. The NWP thus aims to formulate a comprehensive sector policy which includes all relevant actors in the sector. According to the minister, the NWP could make it easier for development partners to provide the necessary support to the sector.
The NWP has been prepared by the Ghanaian Water Resources Commission (WRC) since
2002 and is based on the Ghanaian Constitution of 1992, the Ghana Poverty Reduction
Strategy (GPRS), international agreements and conventions, and other national programs.
4. Responsibility for water supply and sanitation
According to a multi-donor review of Ghana's water supply sector, it is "quite well structured", with the government in charge of policy and regulation, while the private sector and communities play important roles in service delivery. The institutional framework for sanitation is far less clear, with responsibilities not being clearly defined.
4.1 Policy and regulation
At the moment, a number of institutions exist to supervise and regulate water supply and sanitation.
The entire policy framework is based on the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), the
Millennium Development Goals targets, and the Government's coordination with donor assistance.
General water sector policies for both rural and urban areas are set by the Water Directorate within the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH). Furthermore, the ministry solicits funding from external support agencies, monitors the sector, and advises the Cabinet.
The Water
Sector Restructuring Secretariat, created in 1997 in the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and
Housing, oversees the process of private sector participation in the sector.
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development shares responsibility for setting sanitation policies and coordinating funding for the subsector with MWRWH. The government promotes decentralization so that sanitation policies are expected to be carried out by Metropolitan,
Municipal, and District Assemblies. To enforce environmental quality laws, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) under the Ministry of Environment and Science is expected to examine the impact of sanitation development activities on the environment.
4.2. Service provision
4.2.1. Urban areas
The Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL) is responsible for providing, distributing, and conserving water for domestic, public, and industrial purposes in 82 urban systems in localities with more than
5,000 inhabitants. Moreover, the company is mandated to establish, operate, and control sewerage systems in Ghana.
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Local private companies are in charge of meter installation, customer billing, and revenue collection.
In the framework of the urban water project, since October 2006 the private operator AVRL supports
GWCL under a five-year management contract to improve its performance and rehabilitate and extend the infrastructure.
Urban sanitation is a responsibility of local governments.
4.2.2. Rural areas
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) is in charge of coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the National Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP) in rural areas, which is carried out directly by the communities and their District Assemblies. The NCWSP focuses on three main objectives in order to achieve health improvements: safe water supply, hygiene education, and improved sanitation.
The CWSA was created in 1994 under the framework of the Ghana decentralization policy and became autonomous in 1998. The institution does not directly construct, operate, and maintain utilities for water supply and sanitation. Instead, its role is to coordinate the work of a number of actors which carry out the services in rural areas, including public sector organizations, local beneficiary communities, private sector organizations, and NGOs. The CWSA is also expected to ensure that financial support from development partners is effectively used and to provide rural areas and small towns with hygiene education. To carry out its tasks, the agency operates ten regional offices besides its head office in Accra.
In communities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, water supply systems are owned and managed by the respective community on a demand-driven basis. According to the NCWSP, these systems do not receive any cross-subsidies and 5% of the cost of providing the facility is paid by the operating community. Therefore, the rural communities and small towns form gender-balanced voluntary groups which are represented by elected water and sanitation boards, including one or two villagebased caretakers who received special training in repair and maintenance. Communities and the
CWSA are enabled to contract external actors, such as private sector consultants or NGOs, to provide technical assistance, goods, or services. Local companies are regularly encouraged in the provision of boreholes and hand-dug wells, and local artisans are used to provide household latrines.
Although the communities' water and sanitation boards are expected to independently operate and maintain their water supply systems, they do receive technical assistance by District Water and
Sanitation Teams (DWST) at the district level, consisting of an engineer, a hygiene expert, and a community mobilizer.
4.3 Other stakeholders
The Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), created in 2001, "works in partnership with sector players to influence policies, remove barriers and promote access to potable water, sanitation and improved hygiene for the poor and vulnerable." According to the coalition, giving NGOs one voice for advocacy and lobbying has been one of its major benefits.
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5. Role of CLTS
Within the Ghanaian government structure, the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate
(EHSD) is the body responsible for the implementation of a National Environmental Sanitation Policy, within which, the concept of Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) has been acknowledged as the preferred approach to scale-up rural sanitation and hygiene in Ghana.
Since 2007, a number of different agencies working in the Sanitation and Hygiene Sector have been piloting CLTS strategies. Activities have been taking place in Northern, Eastern, Central and Greater
Accra Regions. The organisations spear heading these exercises have set-up and implemented the pilots independently of each other and have adopted slightly different strategic approaches and institutional arrangements.
Given the relative newness of the concept and the movement to adopt CLTS as the way forward, the
EHSD, in collaboration with UNICEF, decided to conduct an in-depth assessment of the different CLTS approaches and their achievements. An evaluation has currently been underway and these findings are expected within the months and should provide necessary evidence to the Ministry for the further elaboration and formation of the national policy and strategy in terms of sanitation.
The following section presents and discusses the findings from the evaluation and the recommendations to effectively roll-out CLTS in Ghana on a wider scale 1 . As CLTS is an approach being introduced across the West Africa Region, discussion on this evaluation in such a forum will not only serve to inform country level partners within Ghana, but will also be an opportunity for neighboring countries to learn from the Ghanaian experience.
5.1 Background of the evaluation
In June 2009, the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development in partnership with UNICEF and others commissioned an evaluation on CLTS projects being implemented in Ghana. The evaluation covered projects by the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Plan
Ghana and WaterAid.
The objective of this paper is to present the finding of the Evaluation Team on CLTS implementation in Ghana and shear lessons learnt with participants
5.2 Objectives of the evaluation
The objective of the evaluation was to assess the suitability of Community Led Total Sanitation as the preferred approach for rural sanitation and to make recommendations for adapting the approach as a national strategy. The EHSD had earlier on indicated that, the CLTS approach was the preferred approach for rural sanitation in the revised environmental sanitation policy.
1 The following section is based on a paper submitted for the West Africa regional sanitation and hygiene symposium, Accra, Ghana (3-5 November 2009), written by N.L. Demedeme and P. Nutsugah.
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Stakeholders had also reported various levels of success with the implementation of the CLTS pilots.
The evaluation was conducted in July and August 2009 and revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the CLTS projects as implemented in Ghana. This paper will present the background of CLTS implementation in Ghana; methodology used for the evaluation; the major findings and conclusions; as well as provide recommendations for taking the process forward in the country
5.3 Background
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Plan, UNICEF and WaterAid have been piloting CLTS since 2007 in approximately 237 communities in Ghana in an attempt to scale up hygiene and sanitation improvements. The pilot activities were in the Northern,
Upper West, Eastern, Central and Greater Accra Regions. The four organizations set up the pilot exercises independently of each other and adopted slightly different institutional arrangements, drawing facilitators from different local government departments and NGOs.
Prior to the implementation of these pilot projects UNICEF had facilitated two learning visits by key stakeholders led by the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate with support from UNICEF to Bangladesh and Ethiopia in 2007 to understudy the CLTS projects in these countries. The search for a new approach to sanitation improvements was necessary as previous approaches seemed to have failed. The JMP, 2008 indicated that out of 51
African countries, Ghana placed 48 th with a sanitation coverage of 10%. This coverage rate represents achievements made using subsidy based approaches to sanitation improvement under the national community water and sanitation program which has been in operation for more than a decade. Open defecation practices were common in the country and the three northern regions had 79-81% of their population involved in this practice.
5.4 Evaluation Methodology
Thirty seven (37) communities with an average population of One Hundred and fifty made up women and children covering all 14 pilot districts in the Northern Region (NR), Upper
West, Central Region (CR), Eastern Region (ER) and Greater Accra (GAR) regions were selected as sample communities for the evaluation. The communities represented approximately 15% of the total communities where CLTS was being piloted.
Key characteristics of the sample included; communities where CLTS was well established, communities where CLTS was at initial stage of implementation, presence of credit schemes for sanitation and communities where SaniMarts or subsidies were provided.
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An evaluation team comprising an international consultant, a local consultant and 4 nationals drawn from the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate, the Community
Water and Sanitation Agency, WaterAid and Trend was formed to ensure participation of stakeholders in the assignment.
Interview guides were prepared for key informants at the national and regional levels and semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions held with district and community level informants. The evaluation team also undertook observations using a checklist at the community level. Key informants/respondents included staff of the funding and implementing agencies, local government authorities, environmental health officers, chiefs, queen mothers, community opinion leaders, children, community based hygiene volunteers, water and sanitation committee members, latrine artisans who are members of the communities with Masonary background and Sanimart operators.
After analyzing the data from the field, findings were presented to stakeholders at a validation workshop.it was interesting to hear some of the finding prominent among them was the Okyeamikissi in the Kwahu North District of the Eastern Region of Ghana where the members of the community decided to put up child friendly sanitation facility in addition to that of adults The entire assignment was guided by the national working group on sanitation.
5.5 Key Findings of the Evaluation
The Evaluation revealed that the projects had led to significant sanitation improvements in more than 200 communities in Ghana which was part of the . 60% of the communities visited had access to latrines; clean environments, well maintained refuse pits/ and some had hand washing facilities with soap in use next to the latrines. A total of 1857 household latrines were constructed over a period of two years which is very significant and if they are facilitated well with other PLA tools like the Sanitation Ladder they can move up and encourage others to construct their own household latrines and at least 5 communities had
100% coverage of improved sanitation facilities. 69 communities have been declared open defecation free.
Awareness of faeco- oral transmission routes was very high and safe behavioural practices were very encouraging among the communities where CLTS had been promoted.
Community members in ODF communities indicated a reduction in diarrhoeal diseases although there was no empirical evidence to support this assertion. CLTS has empowered many extension workers in the use of the Participatory Learning Assessment Tools to move from didactic hygiene education to empowering community members to take charge of
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their sanitation situation through participatory assessment, community action plans and sustenance of positive behavioural practices.
There were however challenges with facilitating CLTS by the Environmental Health
Assistants due to limited knowledge in the use of the Participatory Learning Assessment
Tools and their orientation as Public Health Law Enforcers who are use to arresting and prosecuting Sanitary offenders and in most cases lack means of transport to the communities for follow-up visit during the post-triggering stage, a situation that affected success in those areas. The local NGO staff on the other hand excelled in facilitating CLTS as they already had experience with facilitating participatory approaches. The EHAs need greater capacity building to make them more effective at CLTS facilitation.
The evaluation revealed that community members once triggered were eager to stop open defecation and construct their own household latrines. Major setbacks faced included the lack of credit for latrine construction, low-cost measures for dealing with latrine construction in flood prone areas, unstable soils and shallow ground water areas as well as the fear of having smelly toilets next to their bedrooms and kitchens.
Although several studies point to children as effective change agents, most of the CLTS projects had sidelined children ,this was attributed to the days chosen for the triggering which are usually weekdays when the children were in school This could result in outcomes that are not sustainable as children like adults engage in open defecation. It is the view of many community members that children are the worst culprits of open defecation practice.
Some Local Government (District Assembly) Authorities were found to be promoting latrine construction projects which were at variance with the CLTS approach. This indicated the need for harmonized national strategy and advocacy. Ghana’s previous experience with subsidies has also been a major challenge in implementing CLTS. In the Abura Asebu
Kwamankese in the Central Region for example the European Union (EU) is still promoting the construction of Public Toilets in communities.
Some communities had attained ODF status but because they had not been certified and celebrated, their achievement had diminished in significance and the opportunity to use the celebration as an advocacy tool was lost. Two communities that were celebrated and honoured nationally by Community Water and Sanitation Agency and their respective
District Assemblies have sustained ODF status for a year whilst two others that were not celebrated have resorted to open defecation practices.
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Finally it was realized that there was little documentation of the baseline situation, processes and outcome of CLTS. This resulted in difficulties in assessing information on budget line and the cost involved in attaining Open Defaecation Free (ODF) by the
Evaluation team. The absence of proper documentation also has implications for advocacy and knowledge management.
5.6 Conclusions and Recommendations
Based on the assessment of achievements, constraints and potentials the Evaluation Team concluded that CLTS could become a cost effective, commercially viable in the sense that if the process is well facilitated from the inception and effort made by committed facilitators who are provided with the requisite logistics to follow up on the post triggering activities
,sustainable solution to the sanitation challenges in the rural areas of Ghana will be achieved if a national CLTS strategy and action plan is developed and a complementary capacity building and advocacy plan executed to ensure proper implementation and national level support.
The CLTS strategy should include children to ensure faster and longer lasting behavioral change. Greater attention should also be paid to ODF certification and celebration as a means of encouraging and sustaining positive behaviour change. To ensure that community members have easy access to technological knowledge to enable them move up the sanitation ladder, the CLTS strategy should include measures to build the capacity of latrine artisans for hygienic and safe latrine construction particularly in difficult environmental conditions such as shallow water table areas, unstable soils and flood prone areas.
Sanitation financing should also be considered as an important aspect of the strategy.
The CLTS action plan should make provision for the documentation of processes, lessons learnt, best practices and outcomes in a SMART monitoring and management information system as a matter of strategic importance.
Finally it is recommended that a thorough evaluation of impact of CLTS be done after two years after this evaluation.
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Annex 1: Reference review
http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/country/kenya
Demedeme, N. L . Nutsugah, P. (2009). Evaluation of Community Led Total Sanitation
(CLTS) In Ghana. Paper presented at West Africa regional sanitation and hygiene symposium, Accra, Ghana, 3-5 November 2009. Available at: http://www.irc.nl/page/50830 + PPT
Magala, J.M. and Roberts, L. (2009). Evaluation of strategy for scaling up community led
total sanitation in Ghana : final report. New York, NY, USA, UNICEF. Available at: http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/resource/evaluation-strategy-scaling-cltsghana
WaterAid Ghana (2009). Monthly update from Ghana : Gozakope constructs its first latrines
in over 100 years. Accra Ghana, WaterAid. Available at: http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/resource/gozakope-constructs-its-firstlatrines-over-100-years
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Annex 2: Case studies
CHILDREN’S INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNITY-LED TOTAL SANITATION (CLTS)
A CASE STUDY OF OBOYAMBO COMMUNITY IN CENTRAL REGION OF GHANA.
By Daniel Sarpong
1.0 Introduction
The Oboyambo community is in the Agona East District of the Central Region of Ghana and has a population of 512 including children. The community is made up three different ethnic groups mainly; Fantes, Ewes and Northerners. The community has 67 households and out of this 3 had latrines prior to CLTS activities in 2008.
CLTS implementation in the community has partly contributed to the construction of a school building which started with 30 pupils. Now the school population stands at 150.
2.0 Pre-School Project
The self help spirit encouraged by CLTS has helped the people of Oboyambo to embark on a school building project for their preschoolers. The community had earlier on put up a structure with bamboo and straw as a classroom for the pre-scholars. The facility however collapsed after a short while. After some months, they mobilized resources to build a mud and wattle structure for the school children and employed teachers to teach the children.
The community contributed in terms of labour, sand, stones and water. The Masons and carpenters were drawn from the community to put up the two class room built with bricks.
The most interesting part of the project was the involvement of children and women during the construction of the school building. They were tasked to fetch water from the stream to the building site.
3.0 Children active involvement in CLTS
Generally, children participated actively during the baseline data collection, particularly on the community mapping, refuse sites, recreational centers and water points. During the time of tracing the route of transmission of diseases, children realized that their excreta were washed directly into the stream. They therefore resolved to stop swimming and drinking from the stream.
The children also educated their parents and that helped to settle the dispute over the borehole.
The children supported the women and men to weed, and sweep the surroundings and wash the borehole platform.
Prior to CLTS activities, the community members used to fetch water from the stream and had abandoned a borehole in the community. Weeds had taken control of the borehole site and it was virtually impossible to access the facility. When the community was triggered and members went through the walk of shame and glass of water, the community realized that they were indirectly ingesting their faeces through their continuous use of the water from the stream. The children who were mostly seen swimming in the stream realized the risk of open defecation; they had a change of mind and attitude.
4.0 Formation of a children’s Club in the school
Through the CLTS process, a club was formed by the children to carry hygiene messages across the community. The children used drama, role play and quiz competitions in the awareness creation process.
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The children are responsible for sweeping the classrooms, compound, and toilet and urinal. From time to time, the community members visit the school to weed the surroundings and remove cobwebs. These were done in collaboration with the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), school management and opinion leaders. The club periodically cleans the communal latrine and sweep streets. They also promote hand washing with soap campaign in school and at home. In short, the children are the hygiene ambassadors in the community. The teachers have also been helpful in developing action plans for the school and community to attain an open defecation- free status.
5.0 Obayambo receives support from Japan
In the year 2006, Plan Ghana received grant support from Plan Japan to construct a
4-class room block with modern pre-school facilities for the community. The support came as a result of the community self help spirit and good leadership qualities exhibited by the chief and elders.
6.0 lessons from the CLTS implementation
Children’s active involvement in the CLTS helped to settle the dispute among community members over improper financial accountability of borehole water sales.
Children participation in the CLTS process facilitated the need to provide the school with child friendly toilet facilities, hand washing facilities, drinking water facilities, urinals and canteens
Formation of school young club led to the training of food vendors on good nutritional practices and food handling.
Children and teachers effective collaboration with parents and opinion leaders attracted support from Plan Ghana to search for grant to build modern classroom for the community.
The formation of School Clubs helped to carry the hygiene message across the community.
Children were involved in ODF declaration and celebration.
7.0 Key Success factors and best practices
One of the key factors that led to the successful project implementation was the fact that there were regular follow-ups and high commitment on the part of the natural leaders.
People who were caught defecating openly were fined an amount of five Ghana Cedis ($3.50 equivalent) and a bottle of schnapps. The community watch- dog committee was very vibrant.
Good leadership and community self help spirit
Good facilitation by Partner Organizations and follow ups by Plan staff.
The neighboring community has learnt from the Oboyambo community and has adopted the
CLTS approach.
8.0 Conclusion
In conclusion, the involvement and active participation of children in CLTS or SLTS is paramount. Children are capable of transforming a community and therefore they should be involved in community developmental project.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to extend sincere appreciation to Plan International, the donors and all those who contributed in diverse ways during the preparation of this paper.
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Reference
1. Report on improving sanitation and hygiene situation at Oboyambo using CLTS, 2008
2. End of phase one report for Plan Ghana’s water and sanitation program in the Mankessim
Program Area, July 2006
3. Interview with Plan Program Area Manager, Bawjiase, (21 th
July, 2010).
4. Interview with Plan community facilitator, Bawjiase, (21 th
July, 2010.)
Keywords
School Led Total Sanitation, School Young Club, Northerners, Preschoolers
Contact details
Daniel Sarpong
Water and Sanitation Advisor
Plan Ghana
Tel: +233 244 48 84 40
E-mail: Daniel.Sarpong@plan-international.org; dsarpong@yahoo.com
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