Without water, decent sanitation and good hygiene, other sustainable development goals, including; those on gender equality, education, health, reducing inequalities and nutrition, cannot be achieved.

Abdul Nashiru Mohammed, Country Director of WaterAid, gave the advice in a press release copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra as part of the activities to mark the World Water Day, which falls on March 22.

The statement urged the government to patronise clean water, decent sanitation and good hygiene for people across the Country, if goal six was to be achieved by 2030. WaterAid therefore cautioned that without access to these basic amenities, men, women and children in Ghana would remain trapped in a cycle of poverty and disease while being denied their basic rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. 

According to WaterAid, World statistics showed that about 844 million people still do not have access to clean water and one in three people still live without adequate sanitation facilities.

According to the statement, in Ghana over six million people were currently living without basic access to water whereas over 24 million people did not have decent toilets.The statement said, there was the need for urgent steps to finance water and sanitation to integrate it with efforts on health, nutrition and other related development and to make progress sustainable.

According to WaterAid, prioritising all three will save lives, boost development and change the lives of many living in extreme poverty. The United Nations’ High Level Political Forum to discuss the SDG is slated for July in New York.