The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) has held a three-day dissemination workshop for stakeholders in the Upper West Region on the revised National Water Policy (NWP) of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.

The policy is a renewal of the Government’s commitment to sustainable utilisation of Ghana’s water resources, equitable access to water supply, and the protection and preservation of these resources for the present and future generations.

Key stakeholders, drawn from all the eleven municipal and district assemblies and some regional departments and agencies, were also introduced to the Hand Hygiene for All (HH4A) Initiative and the National Drinking Water Quality Management Framework of the Ministry.

The SNV organised the workshop in partnership with the Ministry as part of the Organisation’s Healthy Future for All project, implemented in the Nandom Municipality and the Lambussie District in the region, with funding from the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

The HF4A project is being implemented on four building blocks – Developing Effective Social Behavioural Change, Strengthening Supply Chains, Services, and Finance for Water and Sanitation; Improving Functionality of Water and Sanitation Infrastructure; and Strengthening WASH Governance and Increasing Inclusiveness.

Thomas Ntori, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Advisor at SNV, said the workshop would enable stakeholders to understand the policy and frameworks to support their implementation at the district and community levels.

The 2024 NWP, launched in July, seeks to ensure efficient utilisation and management of available water resources and equitable access to sustainable, safely managed and affordable water for all.

Ntori said the SNV worked in the WASH sector and the workshop was to support the government’s interventions in WASH services to the citizens.

“The stakeholders will help trickle down the information on the NWP, HH4A and the National Drinking Water Quality Management Framework from the workshop to the communities so that issues of water management and hand hygiene can be enhanced,” he said.

Madam Suzzy Abaidoo, a Senior WASH Programme Officer at the Ministry, explained that the 2007 NWP responded to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

She, however, said the new global development agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and other emerging issues required an update to the old policy, hence the revised 2024 Policy.

She said the revised NWP was therefore in pursuit of the SDGs targets such as target 6.1: “By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.”

On the HH4A Initiative, Madam Abaidoo said the initiative aligned with the SDG 6.2 target and the Ghana WASH Sector Development Programme, which required universal hand washing coverage.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF introduced the initiative in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which aimed to make hand hygiene a culture.

She said the HH4A identified 12 settings, including healthcare facilities, schools and households where hand hygiene services ought to be provided in order not to leave anyone behind.

Madam Abaidoo indicated that the Ministry had, therefore, developed the “Hand Hygiene for All Strategy and Roadmap 2022-2030,” which required at least USD36 million from 2021 to 2030 to ensure universal coverage of hand hygiene.

“To operationalise the strategy, we have minimum standards, the barest minimum that you can do to convince us that you are implementing HH4A.”

“The minimum standards ensure harmony and coherence in hand hygiene programming and practice across sectors and all contexts.”

She added that the operational guidelines also served as a tool to enhance “our capacity for overall hand hygiene programming, and also to sustain hand hygiene promotion, uptake and practice.”

The Ministry also developed the HH4A Communication Strategy to enhance knowledge, attitudes and practices for positive hand hygiene behaviours to achieve increased uptake of hand hygiene products and services.

The strategy sought to trigger and sustain hand hygiene practices at setting-specific critical times through audience-specific messages and materials.

It was to ensure available and functional hand hygiene facilities at setting-specific minimum locations through audience-specific messages and materials by 2030.

Madam Abaidoo said the Communication Strategy was necessary to achieve the expected positive behavioural change.

She encouraged the participants and other stakeholders to integrate such education into their regular programming to ensure the sustainability of the initiative.