Water started flowing from a new borehole at Kpugli in the Northern Region two months after the community’s chief asked for help from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative, Dr Iyabode Olusanmi, to provide safe water for his people.

Dr Olusanmi visited Kpugli on November 7, 2012 to celebrate the community for becoming open-defecation free. In August last year, every family at Kpugli built their own latrines through manual labour (using local materials) as part of the Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) programme. They used hoes and pick axes to dig the latrines, straw mats for the walls and local soap and ash for handwashing. Each compound now has its own latrine (60 in total) and nobody defecates in the open.

Chief Yakubu Andani Iddrisu led the community in its efforts to solve the problem of open defecation. The chief and community instituted sanctions - a fine of GH¢10 for anyone caught defecating in the open. Since then, only one culprit has been caught. The community members also altered their calendar, replacing farming on Fridays with community clean up.

But there was one thing missing: safe water. When the representative visited Kpugli, the chief told her about the community’s struggle for water. In the wet season, they had one muddy pond from which they fetched water. They shared that water source with goats and other animals. That pond was empty in the dry season, and they had to walk up to 50 minutes to River Dakar to collect water. The representative listened, and she made sure UNICEF delivered.

“Kpugli is a shining light for Community-Led Total Sanitation in the Northern Region, and we were determined to help them find a safe drinking water supply. I would encourage other communities in northern Ghana to follow Kpugli’s lead and become open defecation free. Safe water and sanitation is essential to the health of children,” Dr Olusanmi said.

In December 2012, UNICEF partner, Rural Water Development of Church of Christ, started drilling for water. And on January 29, 2013, people started pumping safe water from the new borehole at Kpugli. A water and sanitation committee has been formed, made up of volunteer community members who will manage the borehole. They will maintain the pump.

Helping to provide safe water to people most in need is a key pillar of the UNICEF 2012-2016 country programme. Kpugli is in an area recently freed from Guinea worm, and it qualified for support under the UNICEF and European Union-funded I-WASH project. The project provided safe water to Guinea worm endemic communities in 10 districts in the Northern Region, at a cost of €16.6 million.

In the five years of the project, more than 346,000 people got access to clean water in more than 350 communities. Safe water provided by this project helped break transmission of Guinea worm in 2011. Government, with support from UNICEF and its donors, is monitoring these water supply schemes to ensure services are continuously available and Ghana is certified as Guinea worm free.

Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) has become an entry point for development at Kpugli. It has improved education and health outcomes in the community. Good sanitation, like that practiced at Kpugli, helps prevent diarrhoea and the contamination of water sources. There is nearly 100 per cent attendance at school, and families no longer have to rush their sick children to hospital with diarrhoea.

Key is the effort of the community’s four Natural Leaders for CLTS, who double and triple in roles such as health volunteers, as well as Child Protection Team members, ensuring convergence of UNICEF-supported programmes in the community. Good water and sanitation at Kpugli is helping to foster good nutrition in children who suffer from repeated bouts of diarrhoea. The community now wants to build a new grinding mill. UNICEF has been talking to other development partners about how they can support this initiative.

Kpugli is now in the top 15 per cent of households in Ghana who use latrines that are not shared. Nearly one out of four (23 per cent) households in Ghana practice open defecation or have no toilet facility. In northern Ghana, rates of open defecation are above 70 per cent.

Kpugli is part of the new Mion District, which was carved out of the Yendi District in December last year. Before the separation, 78 communities in the Yendi and Mion districts became open defecation free (out of a target of 80). This was the highest number of open defecation free communities in a district in northern Ghana.

This year, the two districts have set more ambitious targets. Together, Yendi and Mion have a goal of 140 open defecation communities in 2013: 80 for the first quarter of the year, 40 for the second quarter and 10 each for the third and fourth quarters.

UNICEF is helping to provide safe water to people most in need across Ghana. By 2016, UNICEF will have provided an extra 500,000 people with safe water. UNICEF also aims to help 300,000 people in northern Ghana start living in open defecation free communities by 2016. Safe water and sanitation prevents diarrhoea, pneumonia and other diseases: improving children’s health and preventing stunting and malnutrition.