Accra: The Ghana WASH Journalists Network (GWJN) and WaterAid Ghana have urged the Government to enhance public investment in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) to promote national development and tackle ongoing water challenges nationwide. They emphasized that WASH should be central to the national development agenda, as advancements in health, poverty alleviation, and climate resilience rely on access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.
According to Ghana News Agency, the call was made during a roundtable discussion on WASH attended by editors from selected media houses in Accra. Mr. Ibrahim Musah, Head of Strategy, Policy, and Campaigns Department at WaterAid Ghana, noted the lack of attention given to WASH by various governments over the years. He highlighted the importance of addressing water and sanitation issues within the national development framework, urging the government to prioritize WASH in national development and increase public financing for related programs.
Mr. Musah further stated that Ghana requires approximately 1.7 billion dollars annually to fulfill its WASH investment needs and called for this commitment to be reflected in the national budget. Budget tracking by WaterAid indicates that while allocations are made, only 50 to 60 percent of funds are actually released for implementation, underscoring the need for predictable and sufficient financing.
He argued that increased investment in WASH should be seen as an economic investment, citing studies by the World Health Organization and UNICEF that suggest every dollar invested in WASH could yield between six and ten dollars in returns through enhanced productivity, health, and wellbeing. He also highlighted ongoing urban water challenges in cities like Tamale, Ho, and Cape Coast, warning that climate change could exacerbate these issues without adequate investments.
On the topic of sanitation, Mr. Musah advocated the creation of a National Sanitation Authority to establish a clear framework for coordination, enforcement, and service delivery from national to district levels. He also called for investments in waste transfer stations and other sanitation infrastructure to improve compliance, waste management, and promote a circular economy, asserting that sanitation should be viewed as wealth, not waste.
Mr. Murtala Abdul-Mumin, a Senior WASH Monitoring and Financing Advisor at WaterAid UK, emphasized that Ghana's WASH challenge extends beyond infrastructure building to financing sustainable and accessible services. He stressed the need to transition from project-based financing to system financing, with increased domestic investment and mechanisms ensuring value for money to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six.
He pointed out that sanitation remains significantly underfunded, requiring about 800 million dollars annually, nearly half of the estimated 1.7 billion dollars needed to finance the country's WASH sector each year. He also highlighted issues such as donor dependence, weak asset maintenance, and inadequate water quality monitoring, warning that infrastructure could deteriorate rapidly without resources for operation and maintenance.
Mr. Abdul-Mumin called for greater private-sector involvement and an enabling environment to attract investment into the sector, stating that the government alone cannot address the WASH financing gap. He urged the government to create an enabling environment and mobilize public resources, emphasizing that sustainable WASH services will require stronger partnerships and increased private-sector investment to meet the country's growing needs.
He concluded by stating that financing must prioritize marginalized communities to ensure that every cedi invested delivers sustainable WASH services for future generations.