Bolgatanga, (Upper East) 8 Oct.,

A three-day planning workshop on the Community Water and Sanitation Programme (CWSP) for District Chief Executives, district planning officers and other stakeholders in the Upper East Region has opened at Bolgatanga. The workshop is jointly organised by the Community Water and Sanitation Division (CWSD) of the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) and the Community Water Project (COWAP) to introduce participants to the District Water and Sanitation Programme (DWSP). The participants would be equipped with planning principles, methods, technical and social guidelines, data and information. Opening the workshop, Hajia Fati Seidu, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, said there is a direct link between potable water and the general health of the people. She, therefore, urged the participants to support the DWSP which seeks to provide safe water and sanitation facilities to the rural people. Hajia Seidu called for total community involvement to ensure that the programme succeeds. Mr. Steve Anankum, community management specialist with COWAP, said through the assistance of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) about 600 hand pumps out of 1,736 in the region have been rehabilitated. Through CIDA's assistance, the region has achieved 65 per cent rural water supply as against the national average of 43 per cent. The CWSD programme aims at providing sustainable rural water and sanitation facilities managed by the communities in line with the government's decentralisation policy. The programme would, therefore, empower local communities with skills on all aspects of managing their own water supply and sanitation systems and encourage private sector participation. The GWSC would co-ordinate the programme while district assemblies identify communities in need, debate and advise implementing agencies and government on priority areas. The CWSP is being funded by CIDA, the Danish International Development Agency, International Development Association and the French development bank.