Asutifi North Assembly inaugurates inter-agency committee to end open defecation
Mr. Antony Mensah, the Asutifi North District Chief Executive has inaugurated a District Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Sanitation (DICCS) with a call on members, to be innovative and help to eradicate open defecation within the district.
Composition of the 13-member committee comprised of representatives from the Ghana Education Service, Environmental Health Department of the District Assembly and Civil Society actors have been tasked, to ensure a 100 per cent access to water, sanitation and hygiene services by 2030.
According to Mr. Mensah, access to sanitation and hygiene facilities was very important to human health and dignity, but regretted that the district had not performed well in its efforts to stop open defecation.
The DICCS forms a key component of the implementation of the Community-Led Total Sanitation Strategy (CLTS) being implemented in the district, which also forms a part of the National Rural Sanitation Model and Strategy Programme.
He tasked the committee to up measures, intensify advocacy and help change the behaviour and attitude of the people towards open defecation, while the Assembly also ensures that all households in the district have toilets.
Mr. Mensah re-affirmed the commitment of the Assembly in supporting the implementation of the CLTS approach and other sanitation related approaches, to achieve improved sanitation and hygiene for all.
He advised the committee to facilitate quality data gathering on sanitation in order to inform decision-making and implementation.
He also commended World Vision International, for its support to help improve sanitation in the district.
Mr. Cephas Wedam, the Project Coordinator of World Vision International, said it was committing $500,000 to improve on sanitation in the district.
The funding support is to help achieve SDG 6, of ensuring universal access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in the district, he said.
Mr. Samuel Boadu Baidan, the Asutifi North District Coordinating Director and Chairman of the committee, said the committee is ready to work hard, to achieve desirable outcomes.
Source: GNA