Mrs Ophelia Ankrahthe NCCE Eastern Regional Director, said stakeholders must work together to end open defecation in the country as soon as possible to save the environment and prevent diseases.

She gave the commendation at a journalists empowerment forum, organised by the M-CODE in Koforidua on Friday.

The training was to accelerate the fight against open defecation in the region as Ghana works towards eradicating it by 2030.

Mrs Ankrah said the Commission, at the regional level, would collaborate with other stakeholders to ensure that "we all fight against the problem and deal with it holistically".

"We will work with M-CODe Eastern Regional Branch to upscale the fight; we need to fight on towards attaining open defecation-free status in the region," she said.

Mr Francis Ameyibor, M-CODe National Convenor, said the coalition was seeking to create a synergy for media practitioners and other stakeholders to work together, identify challenges and operational gaps towards a common goal in the fight against open defecation.

The journalists empowerment forum event formed part of "M-CODE 2023 Anti-Open Defecation nationwide advocacy efforts, supported by World Vision Ghana, he said.

Mr Yaw Atta Arhin, World Vision Ghana's WaterSanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Technical Coordinator, said while Ghana had made remarkable progress in respect of access to safe water, it was regrettable that same could not be said of environmental sanitation.

"Progress towards universal access to improved sanitation and ending open defecation continues to be very slow."

Mr Arhin charged M-CODE to upscale its efforts across the country through innovative programmesthe engagement of celebrities as open defecation-free ambassadors, and the use of social and traditional media to consistently drum home the message.

Representatives from the Eastern Regional Coordination Councilthe Regional Environmental Health Office, NCCE, Regional SHEP, and the Ghana Education Service, participated in the forum.

Others were the Ghana Health Service, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency.