Artistes to help eradicate open defecation

Alliance Française with support from UNICEF has launched a project to enable artistes in the country to come up with works that would help address the issue of open defecation.

The project, dubbed: “Let’s Talk Shit,” would give artistes the opportunity to come up with artistic art works that would project the actual situation to effectively communicate with the people on the need to put a stop to open defecation.

Ms Susan Namondo Ngongi, UNICEF Country Director said five million Ghanaians are engaged in defecating in the open and 43 per cent of schools are not equipped with proper sanitation.

She said the project is important since it would help to demonstrate that visual art could contribute to arouse critical thinking and place the issue in the public sphere to hopefully generate attention.

“Artistes help us see things that we would not see and we are hoping that their works when developed would generate a lot of conversations to change mind-sets.

“This is necessary because it would initiate dialogue and reduce the rippling effects of open defecation,” she said.

Mr Kweku Quansah, Programme Officer, Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate, Ministry of Local Government said Ghana spends GHC 3.8 million every year due to sanitation situations.

He said from 1990 to 2015 open defecation have been reduced to only three per cent.

“This does not auger well for a country that has seen rise in her population 25 years on after independence,” he said.

He urged the artists to be innovative and develop appropriate art works that would send the message across to cause change.

Nana Osei Kwadwo, the Project Manager said the project would allow for the selection of 20 artistes and 20 pieces of arts to be commissioned depicting issues pertaining to open defecation.