The current national water coverage is hovering around 65 percent and according to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing, Ghana is in a position to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal Six by 2030. This is as a result of indicators, according to Hon. John Nana Amoako, the Chairman of the committee that the nation is on course to accomplishing the goal.The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Water for Rural Africa (WRA) would like to first and foremost, congratulate the parliamentary select committee on works and housing and the entire legislature, on the quest to achieving the said target within the stipulated timeline. WRA would also grasp the opportunity to draw the attention of Parliament of Ghana not to only pay protracted lip service to issues of water and sanitation, but to map out clear and strategic roadmaps to achieving the SDG Goal Six by 2030.

According to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) 2015 report, while Ghana enjoys an improved success in achieving access to safe water, the same cannot be said for sanitation. That achievement per the report, is eclipsed because of the mere 15% coverage of improved sanitation. With less than 20% national coverage of improved sanitation, there is the need to be more committed if Ghana is to achieve the said milestone.

According to the United Nations, despite the huge progress made so far, billions of people still lack safe water, sanitation and handwashing facilities and Ghana is not outside that statistics. Data suggests that achieving universal access to even basic sanitation service by 2030 would require doubling the current annual rate of progress.

For Ghana to attain the desired status, efficient use and management of water are crucial to addressing the growing demand for water, threats to water security and the increasing occurrence and severity of droughts and floods resulting from climate change.

Going forward, WRA wishes to draw the attention of the august house that, access to water alone without improved sanitations facilities, is not sufficient for the actualization of the SGD goal six.

Source: WRA