NALLAP 38 workshop held

The 38 roundtable learning and sharing meeting of the Resource Center Network [RCN] in collaboration with the Water Directorate of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has been held in Accra with a call for effective innovations to be explored in tackling sanitation in Ghana.

The Meeting which brought together participants from Government, waste and sanitation experts, Civil Society Organizations and the media was held under the theme: Modeling Sanitation Learning Agenda for Evidenced-based Bridging of the Policy Practice Gap in Ghana.

The 38 meeting was also a collaboration between the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate [EHSD] of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and the Waste and Sanitation Africa [WSA] a Civil Society Organization [CSO].

In his presentation, Mr. Charles of the Waste and Sanitation Africa [WSA] indicated that sanitation remains one of the off-track of all the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] targets.

Sanitation problems in Sub-Saharan Africa remains basic with complex solutions with political, policy, financial, technical, institutional and socio- cultural interconnections which requires critical thinking, reflections and policy re-alignment to make impact.

He explained that sanitation coverage in the Sub-Saharan African region remains one of the lowest as well as access to sanitation as only 30% of the population having access to sanitation in the region.

In order to solve these challenges, the WSA formed the Africa Sanitation Think Tank [ASTT] to collaborate with Governments, Donor Agencies, Regional entities, International and National Non-Governmental Organizations [NGOs] in Africa on specific sanitation policy issues and best practices.

The Think Tank will provide a platform for engaging key sector stakeholders, using research products to: Stimulate intellectual debate, identify policy and practice gaps, raise the profile of innovations and best practices in sanitation and to trigger pragmatic and effective policy change.

The Think Tank according to Mr. Michael will package existing information to engage stakeholders and gain consensus on policy recommendations.

It will also ensure in-country learning for additional evidence through field visits, researches and learning alliances to better understand the issue at stake for policy recommendations and country-to-country learning, or South-South learning.

He indicated that the objective of the ASTT at the 38 learning and sharing roundtable meeting [NALLAP] of the RCN was to develop an in-country Learning Agenda.

It’s time African governments’ adapt rather than adopt successes promoted by development agents, he said.

On his part, Mr. Demedeme Naa, Director of the Environment, Health and Sanitation Directorate of the Environment Ministry commended the WSA for the initiation of the Think Tank which he added would go a long way in helping address the sanitation menace bedeviling the Sub-Saharan Africa.

He also used the opportunity to thank the RCN in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing for creating the NALLAP platform for both public and private institutions to meet and share knowledge on water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH] issues in the country.

Ghana he said has been grappling with the challenges of sanitation but was quick to add that a lot strives has been made to address it through the adoption of effective and innovative measures by Government through sanitation agencies.

Madam Destina, the WSA Country Representative added her voice to the call for Ghana and Africa as a whole to adopt and implement innovative and effective measures of addressing its sanitation challenges.

As the country is working towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] , she urged for Ghana as a country to target to improve upon its sanitation challenges beyond the year 2015.

Human waste she pointed out can be turned into productive resources to create jobs and incomes for the people. She went further to explain that many nations have turned human waste into meaningful resources and therefore challenged Ghana to emulate their examples.

Africa she said needs a revolution of innovative ideas and measures to propel it to another height. She describes the platform provided by RCN as an opportunity to ensure accelerated and sustainable access to improving sanitation in Ghana.