The Coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), on Wednesday commended government for it decision to prioritise water and sanitation but urged the authorities to fulfil all commitments made in the 2011 budget.
The Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama recently launched a compact outlining government's renewed commitment to sanitation and water.
The compact among others stated that government was committed to "increase allocation in budget statements for sanitation and water, and work with development partners and the private sector to ensure that allocation reached 200 million dollars annually towards sanitation and water improvements to meet MDG targets and sustain improvements beyond 2015".
CONIWAS at a press conference on Wednesday said it was particularly impressed with the leadership role the Ministries of Local Governments, Water Resources, Works and Housing and Finance exhibited in getting the WASH
compact finalised.
CONIWAS said it believed that the achievement of all other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 would be a mirage if sanitation and water were not given the necessary attention "for sanitation and water are the
bedrock for the health of the nation."
Mrs Victoria Daaku, Chairperson, CONIWAS, who read a statement at the conference, asked government to look for funding for the commitments
internally, basically for the sake of sustainability, national ownership and for the avoidance of over reliance on external agencies for support.
She said state agencies, NGOs and private consultants, who would be part of the implementation of the commitments, should ensure integrity and accountability in their activities to ensure that investments were directed
at places of greatest need.
Mrs Daaku indicated that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, still needed to align definitions and indicators and expedited action on developing the much talked-about sector wide monitoring and evaluation
framework to facilitate effective decision-making in the sector.
"The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in particular should, as a matter of urgency, come out with monitoring indicators for
environmental sanitation which is because almost all data about sanitation in Ghana is about access to or use of toilet facilities while there seems to be no data on other aspects of sanitation including solid waste, storm water
drainage, clinical waste, industrial waste and others," she added.
In addition, CONIWAS commits itself to monitoring the implementation of this Compact, its renewed commitments and to offer suggestions when necessary to ensure successful implementation including pointing out shortfalls whenever necessary.