The University for Development Studies (UDS) has launched 14 new short courses and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) programme in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

It is part of efforts to fill the knowledge gap in WASH practice in the country.

The courses would be run by the UDS WASH Centre situated at its Navrongo Campus with the short courses starting from July while the BSc programme begins in the 2017/2018 academic year.

UDS Navrongo Campus has collaborated with WASH sector players from public and civil society organisations led by the Northern Region Office of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to ensure that the course contents are relevant and meet the expectations of employers.

The courses include Water Quality Management, Monitoring and Evaluation for WASH, WASH and Emergencies, Pumping Test Techniques, and Project Management for WASH.

Dr Lateef Oseni, Vice Dean of Faculty of Applied Sciences, UDS Navrongo Campus, who launched the courses during the 11th Northern Regional Learning Alliance Platform (NRLP) meeting in Tamale, said the UDS WASH short courses were to help practitioners to deliver quality and sustainable WASH services.

NRLP is a group of public and civil society organisations engaged in WASH activities in the Region.

Dr Oseni said: “The UDS WASH short courses have been developed to respond to a new way of thinking, the needs of practitioners, who need up-to-date trends in the sector to deliver quality and sustainable services”.

He said the courses would also contribute to efforts at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals on WASH, which require players to work together to ensure sustainable WASH is attained for everyone everywhere.

Mr McCarthy Ofori, Regional Director of CWSA commended UDS Navrongo Campus for the initiative saying it would help to document some of the experiences on the field to help improve the WASH sector.