ACCRA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Government of Ghana has secured a total financing of 93 million U.S. Dollars to help eliminate open defecation in both urban and rural areas, deputy minister for sanitation and water resources, Patrick Boamah announced here on Wednesday.
Out of the amount, 48 million dollars coming from the World Bank will go into financing pro-poor development projects including the provision of household and institutional toilets in the capital to serve at least 3.7 million people.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Platform (JMP) ranks Ghana seventh worst in the world for access to improved sanitation (toilets) with just about 14 percent of Ghanaians having access to basic sanitation (toilet facilities).
Available data also paints the disturbing picture of one out of every five Ghanaians defecating in the open.
"This is highly unacceptable and we need to take urgent and decisive action to reverse the trend," the deputy minister stated during the launch of a national Media Coalition Against Open Defecation project.
According to him, 45 million dollars from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) will be used in financing the Sustainable Rural Sanitation Project between 2017 and 2019 including the construction of 20,000 household toilets in 500 communities in six regions.
Ghana's population stands at around 27 million people based on projections by the Ghana Statistical Service.
It is sad that children die daily from diseases such as diarrhea, cholera and typhoid fever which are easily preventable with affordable and proven interventions such as the use of improved latrines and hand-washing with clean water and soap.
