National WASH Conference to focus on climate change

Ghana’s 21st National WASH Stakeholders Conference dubbed Mole Conference, comes off in Accra on Tuesday on the theme, “Global Climate Change: A Challenge For The WASH Sector in Ghana.”

According to the Coalition of NGOs in the Water and Sanitation Sector (CONIWAS), the Mole XXI Conference, which will be held from July 20, 2010 to July 23, 2010, is focusing on Climate Change because it is becoming increasingly clear that the phenomenon poses a dire threat to the realisation of a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), help the poor and vulnerable to live in dignity.

“The poor people that CONIWAS seek to serve are already experiencing the impact of climate change in their day –to- day lives. As a result of climate change greater numbers of people lack access to adequate and safe water, health threats are increasing, more people are suffering from hunger, productivity in natural resource based livelihoods is declining and poor people are getting poorer,” a paper prepared by the planning committee of the conference and CONIWAS secretariat stated.

The coalition deduced that the poor in Ghana, as in the rest of Africa, are especially vulnerable to climate change, due to the range of negative impacts they must deal with, the sensitivity of most livelihoods to climatic changes, and people’s low adaptive capacity.

“The impacts of climate on the WASH sector in Ghana have become more apparent in the past five years than ever.  Many communities are observing a drastic decrease in the yields of water facilities (boreholes and wells), many wells that previously provided sufficient water to communities are drying up, and reservoirs for urban water supply are under increasing threat of drying up with severe consequences on water supply, sanitation and hygiene,” the NGOs stressed.

The coalition’s secretariat and planning committee said that indeed the choice of the theme for this year’s conference was informed by the fact that although climate forecast and climate change scenarios predict more severe and frequent pattern of such drought/flood events, the indications are that national planning for adaptation to climate change has not yet received the priority it deserves, while preparations for the adverse effects of climate change have not gone at any significant scale.

“Much of the discourse on the subject has been limited to the policy circles and within the domains of the water resources sub- sector. The linkage and potential impact of the climate change to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene sector is little understood and policy dialoguing on the subject within the sector has been ‘inadequate’ and as a result, many key stakeholders, especially at regional, district and community levels are unable to conceptualise the reality of climate change threat to the WASH sector,” they stressed.

On that score, they maintained that there is the need to raise awareness on climate change and variability at all levels and CONIWAS sees itself playing a central role in this endeavour.

“To bridge this gap, CONIWAS is dedicating the Mole XXI conference solely to the subject of climate variability and change, and its impact on the WASH sector,” the group said, adding that the conference will provide in-depth information on the subject and make the necessary linkages with drinking water (urban and rural), sanitation and hygiene.

The conference will also share practical lessons on the ground regarding how this impact is reflected at the community level, while it is envisaged that policy discussions during the conference will go a long way towards the creation of the enabling framework to guide and support efficient adaptation to climate change within the WASH and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) sectors and elucidate on possible interventions for effective adaptation to climate change.

It is also believed that the outcomes of the Mole XXI conference and the activities of the NGO coalition in general will be important in highlighting these critical issues at the district and community levels, and supporting communities to implement simple and sustainable measures to mitigate the impacts of climate variability and change.

According to the organisers, the conference will retain its normal focus of knowledge sharing and advocacy and will devote about 70% of the period to sharing lessons on trends, case examples of impacts, identifying stakeholder roles and seeking consensus on priority actions for the sector.

Historically, the Mole conference has often focused on issues relating to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. However, the conference will for the first time put greater emphasis on water as a resource and then build linkages with the other services.

To this end, the Water Resources Commission (WRC) will play a major role, whilst Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL)/Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL), Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development will all provide different perspectives to the subject.

Key questions the conference will address include how climate change as a global phenomenon manifests impact locally, to what extent commonly cited trends such as droughts, floods and lowering of underground water table are attributable to climate change, whether these are part of natural cycles of nature that go and come, or permanent changes that require special effort to reverse.

Others will be to what extent hand dug wells and surface dug outs continue to be considered sustainable sources of water supply to rural communities and towns respectively, what are the priority actions for stakeholders in the WASH sector to consider and ensuring that members are adequately given orientation on climate variability and change issues, as the first step towards assisting communities to adopt effective adaptation strategies.

Above all, the conference aims to increase understanding of all stakeholders in the WASH  sector on the subject of climate change, make a linkage between the global picture of climate change and its local impacts at the national and community levels, improve collaboration and improved dialogue between the various sub-sectors within the WASH sector on the subject of climate change and share knowledge on the key challenges that affect the sector whilst embarking on an energised campaign to raise the profile of the sector among politicians.

Participants who will number over 100 from various WASH sectors, state and donor agencies, will be taken through knowledge sharing sessions, which will involve the presentation of papers on selected thematic areas by key national and international sector experts as well as sector practitioners.

They will also be taken through structured discussions comprising key issues emanating from the conference which will be discussed in plenary and in smaller groups, as well as expert panel discussions encompassing knowledge sharing events that will include expert panel discussions on key identified issues. Discussions will seek to seek in-depth expert opinions and to generate dialogue among participants.

The national conference will also include exhibitions by sector organisations and others, structured media events and conclude with a conference communiqué, which will capture briefly the outcomes and key decisions from the workshop.

The annual conference was first organised in 1989 by a group of non-state actors in the water and sanitation sector in Ghana at the Mole Game Reserve, which brought together policy makers and practitioners in the sector.

The objectives were to create a forum for dialogue on sector issues; and to build the capacity of local organisations in sharing their experiences and articulating key emerging issues to government for redress.

Participants included local NGOs, WaterAid and special interest individuals. Following the success of the first forum dubbed, Mole I, a decision was taken to make it a permanent feature in the work of NGOs in the water and sanitation sector to be organised annually.

Since then, each year the conference decides on a theme and the key issues to be addressed. The practice has been to decide on a suitable venue on a rotational basis for the hosting of the conference.

The subsequent years since 1989 have witnessed a consistent growth of interest and importance of this forum (through Mole I (1989) to Mole XX (2009)) among civil society, policy makers, local government and development partners alike.

The Mole Series, as it is known today, has evolved from what was primarily an NGO forum into perhaps the most important multi-stakeholder platform within the WASH Sector.

Over the years, the conference has attracted government actors, donors and other stakeholders (including local authorities) on an annual basis to deliberate on critical issues affecting the sector.

In 2009 when the Mole Conference celebrated its twentieth anniversary, the occasion provided an occasion to discuss the achievements and prospects for the network in the coming years.

It was then acknowledged that the network had achieved some notable successes that it could be accredited with, including networking and capacity building of WASH sector NGOs, influencing sector policy, facilitation of NGO participation in sector reform processes, highlighting the neglected status of sanitation and facilitation of learning and knowledge sharing.

Sponsors of the Mole Conferences over the years have included DANIDA, The Royal Netherlands Embassy, WaterAid Ghana, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, CIDA, World Bank, European Union, UNICEF and CONIWAS.

By Edmund Smith-Asante