The World Bank in collaboration with Centre for Development Partnerships on Thursday presented this year's Civil Society Fund (CSF) awards to seven civil society organisations in Accra.
The organisations include Queencare International, Community Assistance Programme, Centre for Community Advancement, Gaceed, Ampa Resource Foundation, Golden Star Foundation and John Caring Foundation and Rural Education and Development Programme.
The awards were under the theme: "Gender, Water and Sanitation: Building the case for sustainable use through Transparent and Accountable Mechanism"
Mr. Ishac Diwan, World Bank Country Director, addressing the recipients urged the winning organisations to utilise their grants to benefit the society.
He said issues of sanitation was a behavioural problem and appealed to organisations in that field to work effectively on those aspects in their dealing with the society.
Mr. Diwan announced that United States President Barack Obama had present part of his Noble Peace prize to CSF and water and sanitation
project.
Mrs. Divina Seanedzo, Representative of Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), Gender Unit said globally women had primary
responsibility for the provision, management and safeguarding of water supply and sanitation.
"This role is not new, but it is one to which insufficient attention is paid", she added.
She said for water management to be sustainable and transparent, both men and women must have an equal say saying, "we acknowledge that there isgrowing shift in global attitudes regarding women's role in economic and
social development".
Mrs. Seanedzo said MOWAC encouraged policies that promoted gender approach to water resource and sanitation management to ensure that specific
needs and concerns of women and men from all social groups were taken into account.
She urged society to recognise women for what they were as stakeholders and not beneficiaries and said targeting women for training and capacity building was critical to the sustainability of water and sanitation
initiatives, particularly in technical and managerial roles to ensure their presence in decision-making process.
Mrs. Seanedzo reiterated the Ministry's commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women and applauded the collective efforts of partner organisation including civil society organisations.
The CSF, formerly Small Grants Programme, is a World Bank grant which is provided annually to selected CSO's to implement civic engagement activities.