Japan grants $3m to upgrade sanitation, hygiene in northern Ghana

The Japanese government has given Ghana a grant of $3 million to improve the sanitation and hygiene practices of an estimated 112,500 poor and vulnerable persons in the Northern Region.

Four districts in the region – Saboba, East Gonja, West Gonja and the Tamale Municipality were selected to benefit from the project which will be implemented by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) Ghana.

Partners of the project including the World Bank which is administering the Japan Social Development Fund, explain that the Northern Region of Ghana was selected over the other nine regions because of the “comparatively high prevalence of water and sanitation related diseases like diarrhea, buruli ulcer, and intestinal worms”.

On August 28, 2013, an agreement was signed between the World Bank and the SNV on the project.

In a statement, Mr Noriaki Sadamoto, the First Secretary of the Japan Embassy in Ghana hoped that the collaboration effort will bring sanitation and hygiene improvements to the beneficiary communities.

The Country Director of the World Bank for Ghana, Yusupha Crookes, said not only would SNV Ghana be held accountable on what results were promised as against what was achieved, but also changes the various facilities in the households and schools make on the reduction of diseases and improvement in the general welfare of the people.

By Ekow Quandzie