World Vision Ghana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with four district assemblies in the Upper East Region to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services under its Universal Service Coverage initiative.
The agreement, signed in Bolgatanga on May 14, brought together District Chief Executives, representatives from the Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, the Regional Coordinating Council, the media and other stakeholders. The beneficiary districts are Bawku West, Garu, Tempane and Builsa South.
In his welcome address, the Strategy and Integrated Programme Director at World Vision Ghana, Joshua Baidoo, said the initiative forms part of the organisation’s five-year strategy aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable children through access to safe water, sanitation, health, nutrition and education.
He noted that the organisation plans to invest $24.1 million over the next five years to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 and expand WASH services across communities. The broader “Hope for Every Child” strategy seeks to impact 2.8 million children in Ghana by 2030.
“Our target is to ensure that by 2030, 2,800,000 children, especially the most vulnerable in Ghana, will grow up loved, healthy, educated, and empowered to flourish in safe and resilient communities. So we talk of the 2.8 million children as our target. Children in the Upper East Region are not left out.”
He further stressed the need for stronger partnerships, innovative financing and collaboration between government institutions, assemblies and development partners to achieve universal access to safe water and sanitation services.
“Today’s engagement offers us a vital platform to align our vision, share knowledge, and strengthen collaboration. It brings together various stakeholders here, the MMDCEs, and once we have the District Assemblies, DCEs, Coordinating Directors here, we can say that we have our policymakers with us. Bringing these stakeholders together is critical, and then ensuring that all of us play our role as expected in terms of driving change, especially in the area of improving access and quality of our WASH services within our respective districts.”
“Together, we have the opportunity to drive meaningful change and ensure that universal access to WASH, safe water, sanitation, and hygiene becomes a reality for all. And to be able to do this, we need to come out with innovative financing approaches. Everything is about resources. We want to ensure that every corner within our district has access to safe water, good sanitation and hygiene,” he said, adding that, “we need the resources but if we put our heads together, we should be able to ensure that at least we have 90% coverage in every district that we want to focus on.”
The District Chief Executives at the meeting also pledged their commitment to supporting the implementation of the programme and delivering on their responsibilities to help improve WASH coverage in their respective districts.
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