The French Embassy has granted Simli Aid, a non-governmental organisation, an amount of GH¢126,099 to improve the economic situation of poor women and develop sustainable livelihoods through ecological sanitation in Tamale.

The project is to create opportunities for 50 poor and marginalised women to increase income and overcome their poverty while resolving the sanitation and hygiene needs of about 400 people in the Nalung electoral area.

It will involve the construction of two aqua-pit latrines on pay-for-use basis: the women will set the user charges and community members will pay and use. The construction technology to be adopted will incorporate ecological sanitation techniques (ECOSAN) that will enable the waste products to be transformed into compost for farming purposes.

“Working with the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly and the University for Development Studies, the aqua-pit latrines will serve to promote a balance in harmony between sanitation promotion and sustainable environmental management approaches,” said Frédéric Clavier, French Ambassador to Ghana.

According to him, the latrines will generate self-income through user-fee charges. These fees will be used to boost the income of the beneficiaries after all recurrent expenses are made. The income from the latrines will be saved at the bank by the beneficiaries and eventually result in long-term capital mobilisation and investments.

Through its Fund for Social Development (FSD), the French Embassy aims at supporting civil society organisations in several development-related sectors such as economic empowerment, food security, water, hygiene and sanitation.