Tema-Ghana, Sept. 23, GNA – The Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODe) has called on the government and development partners to extend the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA SWP) to other regions across the country.
“GAMA SWP must at least adopt one metropolitan or municipal area in each region to increase access to improved sanitation and improved water supply, especially in low-income communities,” Mr. Francis Ameyibor, M-CODe National Convenor, stated in Accra.
Mr. Ameyibor, who was speaking at the M-CODe National Working Group Empowerment Summit in Accra, which was sponsored by World Vision Ghana, said the prospects of GAMA in Greater Accra and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) should serve as the yardstick to extend the project nationwide.
The Government of Ghana, acting through the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, is implementing the GAMA/GKMA Sanitation and Water Project with financing from the World Bank.
Mr. Ameyibor noted that engagement with M-CODe regional stakeholders nationwide enforced the demand for extension and expansion of the GAMA project and appealed to the government and World Bank to consider the call.
On the M-CODe Empowerment Summit, Mr. Ameyibor explained that it formed part of the “M-CODe 2023 Anti-Open Defecation Nationwide Advocacy efforts, which are supported by World Vision Ghana.
He said M-CODe was building alliances with strategic stakeholders, including the Regional Coordinating Council, Environmental Health Department, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Community Water and Sanitation Agency, and the Department of Community Development, to revitalise advocacy against open defecation.
Other stakeholders include the Department of Gender, the National Commission for Civic Education, Regional Environmental Officers, the Environmental Protection Agency, World Vision, and civil society organisations.
The rest consists of Regional Officers from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Sanitation, and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, among others, who work to revive and maintain the activism to alter the rules and build a society free of open defecation.
As part of national efforts to put an end to the practice, Mr. Ameyibor noted that empowerment through capacity building, connecting key players in the battle against open defecation, and developing a forum to expose communities still engaging in the practice were all important to achieving the goal.
The M-CODe National Convenor mentioned the public awareness campaign towards the global aim of eliminating open defecation (OD) by 2030 and the empowerment of media, who serve as important partners to revitalise locally. 
Mr. Yaw Attah Arhin, World Vision Ghana Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Technical Specialist, who opened the M-CODe National Working Group Empowerment Summit, stressed the need for stakeholders to work together towards the objective of ending open defecation by 2030.
He noted that despite the increasing political and public interest and greater attention in recent times, progress towards ending open defecation has been “embarrassingly sluggish.”
Mr. Arhin called on the Ministry of Sanitation to continue to provide leadership and strategic direction for implementing the roadmap for ending open defecation in Ghana.
He said it was sad to observe that children die every year from diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, and typhoid, when these could easily be prevented with affordable and proven interventions such as the use of improved latrines and hand-washing with soap under running water.
Other speakers include Mr. Emmanuel Addai, GAMA Knowledge Management Expert, and Mr. Wisdom Aditsey, Tema Metropolitan Health Officer.
