The four-day conference, starting from Monday, October 30 in Jirapa in the Upper West Region will deliberate on the theme: “Building Inclusive and Resilient Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Systems to Reach the Unserved.”

“The recent flooding of several communities after the spillage of the Volta Dam has even enhanced the importance and urgency around the selected theme – Resilience systems,” the Executive Secretary of the Coalition, Basilia Nanbigne said. 

Even though selection of the theme and planning for the conference began long before the flooding, the intensity of the incident has triggered the urgency to discuss how our water and sanitation systems should be developed with resilience as the bedrock.

“A resilient WASH system would, for instance, not raise too much panic and anxiety about the water that displaced people would drink, where they would defecate, and how they would access basic hygiene facilities in times like this. But most of the time, we plan with little or no assumption of a possible future emergency situation,” says Ms. Nanbigne.

This year’s conference is happening against the backdrop of the complexities and uncertainties of global economic challenges, supply chain bottlenecks (arising from COVID-19 pandemic), and ongoing climate change, which has been described as the ‘triple crises.’ Securing Government and stakeholder commitments to WASH and building inclusive and resilient WASH systems to reach the unserved populations is a clear action to turn the ‘triple crises’ into a ‘triple win’.

Consistent with the coalition’s mission of working in partnership with relevant stakeholders to influence policies, remove barriers and to promote access to safe WASH for the poor and vulnerable, this year’s event will set the agenda and commence a national dialogue aimed at holding Government and other duty-bearers to account on their commitments to WASH, and to change the narrative regarding the approach to the delivery of sustainable WASH services in Ghana.

The Conference is intended to create a common space where policymakers, practitioners and researchers will gather to give account on the state of Ghana’s WASH delivery systems – through the review of available evidence, interrogating the science and methods, exploring the latest lessons and existing experiences, towards bridging the WASH service delivery gaps. The conference will also discuss how the implementation of resilient WASH systems will address access and equity, and how current service delivery models will impact on Ghana’s pace towards achieving WASH for all.

The overall objective of the conference is to review equity and inclusive approaches toward building resilient WASH services in the country. The focus of discussions will include systems, approaches, and models of resilient WASH service delivery. The specific objectives include: 

1. Reflecting on approaches to building resilient WASH systems to ensure sustainable service delivery. 

2. Exploring inclusive approaches to service delivery that address equity concerns and promote sustainable WASH service delivery for everyone everywhere.

3. Discussing options for delivering sustainable WASH to unserved and underserved communities in Ghana.

4. Highlighting cutting-edge partnerships with education, health, economic and related sectors in delivering cost-effective, affordable, and inclusive WASH services.

5. Reviewing existing innovative financing approaches that are inclusive and self-sustaining.  

6. Exploring appropriate technologies and innovations for delivering WASH infrastructure and services in an equitable and inclusive manner, and

7. Developing practical and actionable recommendations for accelerating access to sustainable WASH services. The conference, to be attended by participants from civil society organizations, government and academic institutions, development agencies and diplomatic institutions, private entities, and the media, will be officially opened by the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Hon. Freda Prempeh.