Coronaviurs outbreak: WASH Alliance calls on govt to roll out long term strategies

The Alliance for WASH Advocacy (A4WA) has called on the government to progressively shift focus from the short-term adhoc measures it initially rolled out to long-term durable strategies.

According to the Alliance, sustained improvements in WASH sector financing, key institutional strengthening at all levels, including the setting up of the National Sanitation Authority and the National Sanitation Fund, culturally-appropriate behavioural change communication initiatives and the creation of a truly enabling environment for vibrant private sector participation in WASH service delivery will help fight not only the COVID 19 but other disease that may arise.

Congratulating the Government on its initial response directives and public safety protocols which include the gradually-intensifying public education on precautionary personal hygiene practices, regular briefings on the unfolding COVID-19 cases and response management mechanisms, the Alliance called for a clearly-defined role for the Ministry of Water and Sanitation Resources (MSWR) within the context of the fight against the outbreak of the virus as well as the sustainability measures thereafter, seeing as it is one of the critical institutions which will continue the fight against other hygiene-related diseases long after the Inter-Ministerial Committee on COVID-19 is disbanded.

The Alliance, in a press statement copied to the Businessweekghana.com, also advised that portions of the 100 million dollars committed by Government be allocated to the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to support ongoing WASH initiatives, which have been largely underfinanced over the past years. “Although dire, the COVID-19 outbreak has shown light globally on WASH as one of the most critically potent, comparatively inexpensive and universally admissible disease control strategies,” the statement stressed.

The statement wish was signed by the Convener Nora Ollennu, additionally called the attention of the Government and other relevant stakeholders to the following:

1. Priority must also be given to extensive rural health institutional strengthening initiatives (particularly on maternal and child health issues).
2. Both the central and local Government machinery should effectively embrace strong collaboration, broad-based consultations and the active involvement of WASH sector CSOs, networks and the media in all proposed COVID-19 mitigation strategies so as to synchronize efforts and avoid counter-productivity, misallocation and uneven distribution of resources.
3. We also condemn, in no uncertain terms, the exorbitant pricing of hand sanitizers and other sanitary products; and the sale of counterfeit products by some opportunistic vendors to unsuspecting citizens. Seeing as these practices threaten to spiral out of control, derail the ongoing efforts and endanger lives, we call on the Government and its security apparatus to act swiftly and clampdown on this issue. Government should also dialogue with industry players to make the alcohol-based hand sanitizers more affordable and readily available to the ordinary Ghanaian.
4. Last but not the least, we wish to reiterate the ongoing calls for citizens to sternly observe to the recommended public health guidelines issued by the WHO and Ministry of Health (MoH) on regular handwashing and other hygiene practices while shunning false information from questionable sources.

The A4WA is made up of nongovernmental organisations and networks which include WaterAid Ghana, Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), World Vision Ghana, CONIWAS, SafeWater Network, People’s Dialogue, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Ghana, SNV-Ghana, SkyFox, Plan Ghana and the four local partners for Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) Ghana WASH CSOs namely Intervention Forum, New Energy, Integrated Action for Community Development and the United Civil Society Organizations for National Development.

“As a group, we remain committed to playing our part and collaborating with the Government of Ghana and all other key actors in the current fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement noted.