Local Ministry signs MoU with NGOs on hygiene, sanitation

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Results-Based Financing (RBF) organizations for the provision of sanitation and hygiene at the community level.

The RBF, include six community based organizations, tasked with the mandate of implementing the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) programme to improve sanitation and hygiene at the districts level.

Mr Vincent Adjato-Mtem, Acting Chief Director at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, said the CLTS are involved in mobilizing communities to completely eliminate open defecation and build latrines through a process of facilitation.

Mr Adjato-Mtem said the programme was first introduced in 2006 and piloted in Eastern, Central, Greater Accra, Northern, Upper West and Upper East Regions and sponsored by WaterAid and Plan and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

He said some of the challenges identified in the CLTS implementation include inadequate personnel with the capacity to implement and undertake follow-up and inadequate resources.

He said through the programme, community members realize the links between defecation and negative health, economic and social impacts and as a result, they become motivated to take collective action to change the negative practice.

Mr Adjato-Mtem said under the RBF programme, funds would be paid to the six organizations based on performance of CLTS programmes.

He said the RBF framework outlines the process for scaling up sanitation and hygiene services within the context of partnership to maximize the comparative advantage of participating entities.

Mrs Loretta Roberts, Water and Sanitation Hygiene Specialist at UNICEF said the outfit is committed to fund the project to improve sanitation and hygiene to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) target for sanitation.

She said reports indicate that inadequate provision of potable water and unimproved sanitation and hygiene undermine the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Mrs Roberts said access to sanitation in the country is low, adding that, reports from the Ministry of Health in 2009 stated that about 70 per cent of out-patient attendance was due to poor sanitation.

She said meeting the MDGs target for sanitation requires development and implementation of innovative but effective programs involving Non-Governmental Organizations.

Source: GNA