GHANA- Situational Analysis: CLTS/SLTS/ULTS

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GHANA- Situational Analysis on CLTS/SLTS/ULTS

Contents1. Ghana Fact overview.........................................................................................................2

2. Sanitation overview..........................................................................................................2

3. Pan Africa CLTS programme in Ghana...............................................................................2

4.Institutional mapping............................................................................................................2

5. Already existing platforms (networks, LAs).......................................................................2

6. Background information- Ghana.......................................................................................2

Annex 1: Reference review......................................................................................................2

Annex 2: Case studies...............................................................................................................2

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1. Ghana Fact overview

Population : 24,000,000 pop in 2010 (Gov of Ghana). 46% urban; 54% rural GDP/capita PPP : 1,600$US in 2010 (IMF) Main economic activities : Agriculture (37% of total economic activity), Oil, Cocoa,

Timber, Electricity, Diamond, Bauxite and Manganese Major cultural groups : Ashanti, Fante, Akyem, Kwahu, Ga, Ewe, Mamprusi and

Dagomba, among others Religions : Christian, animist Political regime : Presidential republic Geographical context : Tropical climate, 4 geographical regions (Low plains, Ashanti

Uplands, Volta Bassin, High plains)

2. Sanitation overview

Figures

o Rural sanitation (broad definition) 13%o Urban sanitation 27%

Ghana aims at achieving 85% coverage for water supply and sanitation by 2015, which would exceed the Millennium Development Goals' target of 78%

Responsible authority for sanitation

o Urban areas: Ghana Water Company Ltd and other private agencieso Rural areas: The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development shares

responsibility for setting sanitation policies and coordinating funding for the subsector with MWRWH.

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) is an independent agency coordinating efforts with district authorities

Policies/strategies in place

National Water Policy (NWP) in 2008, which focuses on the three strategic areas: (i) water resources management; (ii) urban water supply; and (iii) community water and sanitation.

National Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP) in rural areas, which is carried out directly by the communities and their District Assemblies. The NCWSP focuses on three main objectives in order to achieve health improvements: safe water supply, hygiene education, and improved sanitation.

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Challenges in country

In communities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, water supply systems are owned and managed by the respective community on a demand-driven basis. According to the NCWSP, these systems do not receive any cross-subsidies and 5% of the cost of providing the facility is paid by the operating community. Therefore, the rural communities and small towns form gender-balanced voluntary groups which are represented by elected water and sanitation boards, including one or two village-based caretakers who received special training in repair and maintenance. Communities and the CWSA are enabled to contract external actors, such as private sector consultants or NGOs, to provide technical assistance, goods, or services. Local artisans are used to provide household latrines.

History of CLTS in Ghana

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Plan, UNICEF and WaterAid have been piloting CLTS since 2007 in approximately 237 communities in Ghana in an attempt to scale up hygiene and sanitation improvements. The pilot activities were in the Northern, Upper West, Eastern, Central and Greater Accra Regions. In addition, a case study of Oboyambo community in Central region of Ghana on children’s involvement in community-led total sanitation was conducted by Daniel Sarpong, Plan Ghana

3. Pan Africa CLTS programme in Ghana

Target population20, 000 people from 50 communities and 25 schools; in the Upper West Region, Central Region, Volta Region and Eastern Region (Districts of Sissala West, Wa municipal, Agona East, Abura Assebu Kwamankese, and South Tongu Upper Manya Krobo)

Specific objectives/country:

Overall objective:

Within five years, the overall objective of the project is to reduce sanitation related illnesses, improve knowledge and skills and enhance sanitation services for 50 rural communities in Ghana

Specific objectives: 1. Terminate indiscriminate defecation in 50 project communities in 5 districts in

Ghana by facilitating the implementation of CLTS2. Promote proper waste management through facilitating community led sanitation

action and management systems for 50 rural communities3. Promote proper hygiene in project communities through education, sensitization

and awareness district workshops for the beneficiary communities

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4. Improve the health, living standards and long-term viability of the beneficiary rural communities by providing reliable, convenient access to clean water

5. Build capacity and networks in strengthening CLTS/SLTS in the six program areas.

Progress (in 2010-2011):

1. 45 communities and 20 schools have been triggered successfully include one (1) peri-urban community in the Northern sector

2. Networks and collaboration with various national and international organisations.

Challenges (in 2010-2011):

1. Plan Ghana old approach was based on subsidy2. Taboo days in some communities coinciding with market days in the area- this

affects mobilization3. Competing for community time and interest4. Promotion of subside by some NGOs in some of the project communities and

neighbouring communities

4. Institutional mapping

Government agencies Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural DevelopmentWater Directorate of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA)

Major donors

Majors INGOs WaterAid Ghana, Plan Ghana,

Major local NGOs

Other relevant actor

District Water and Sanitation Teams (DWST) at the district level, consisting of an engineer, a hygiene expert, and a community mobilizer.

5. Already existing platforms (networks, LAs)

RCN GhanaLevel: nationalFrequency of meeting, location (if constant)Actors involved, leaders: TREND, WaterAid Ghana, KUNST, Water Research Institute. Supported by IRC

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Contact organisation/person: http://www.ghana.watsan.netList of ongoing topics

WASH learning alliance –This is the same as RCN. It is an office that coordinated the activities of the WASH Learning alliance

Level: nationalFrequency of meeting, location (if constant): MonthlyActors involved, leaders: UNICEF, WATERAID,PLAN, WORLD VISION, CHF, CWSA, GWCL, WASHCOST, TREND, EHSD, KNUST Contact organisation/personList of ongoing topics/issues discussed

National CLTS task force: Level: NationalFrequency of meeting, location (if constant)Actors involved, leaders: PLAN, UNICEF, CWSA, APDO, TREND, EHSD, PRONET, WATERAID, CHF, CoC Contact organisation/person:EHSD, Kweku QuansahList of ongoing topics/issues:

CONIWAS: The Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), created in 2001, "works in partnership with sector players to influence policies, remove barriers and promote access to potable water, sanitation and improved hygiene for the poor and vulnerable." According to the coalition, giving NGOs one voice for advocacy and lobbying has been one of its major benefits.

Level: NationalFrequency of meeting, location (if constant): YearlyActors involved, leaders Contact organisation/personList of ongoing topics/issues

Water Directorate: This is not a platform. It is department under the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing

Level: NationalFrequency of meeting, location (if constant)Actors involved, leaders Contact organisation/personList of ongoing topics/issues

WASH journalist: This is a network of Journalist who have great interest and reports on WASH issues

Level: VariousFrequency of meeting, location (if constant)

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Actors involved, leaders Contact organisation/personList of ongoing topics/issues

Local District water and Sanitation team: This is a department which support WASH programs in the District Assembl

Level: DistrictFrequency of meeting, location (if constant)Actors involved, leaders Contact organisation/personList of ongoing topics/issues

District SHEP: This is a department that support Sanitation, Health, Education programs in the district Assemblies

Level: DistrictFrequency of meeting, location (if constant)Actors involved, leaders Contact organisation/personList of ongoing topics/issues

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6. Background information- Ghana

1. Introduction

The Republic of Ghana is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire (formally called Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King" and is derived from the ancient Ghana Empire.

Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient predominantly Akan Kingdoms, including the Akwamu on the eastern coast, the inland Ashanti Empire and various Fante and non-Akan states, like the Ga and Ewe, along the coast and inland. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century, and the British established the Gold Coast Crown colony in 1874.

The Gold Coast achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so[7][8][9] and the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana, which once extended throughout much of west Africa. Ghana is a member of the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union, and an associate Member of La Francophonie. Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world and is also home to Lake Volta, the largest artificial lake in the world by surface area.

2. Water and sanitation sector

The water supply and sanitation sector in Ghana faces severe problems, partly due to a neglect of the sector until the 1990s. Tariffs were kept at a low level which was far from reflecting the real cost of the service. Economic efficiency still remains below the regional average, resulting in a lack of financial resources to maintain and extend the infrastructure. Since 1994, the sector has been gradually modernized through the creation of an autonomous regulatory agency, introduction of private sector participation, and decentralization of the rural supply to 138 districts, where user participation is encouraged. The reforms aim at increasing cost recovery and a modernization of the urban utility Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL), as well as of rural water supply systems.

Another problem which partly arose from the recent reforms is the existence of a multitude of institutions with overlapping responsibilities. The National Water Policy (NWP), launched at the beginning of 2008, seeks to introduce a comprehensive sector policy.

The water supply and sanitation infrastructure is insufficient, especially in rural areas and concerning sanitation. There are substantial discrepancies between access data from various sources, partially because of different definitions being used by different institutions that are providing access data. According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation of UNICEF and WHO access is as follows:

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Urban(46% of the population)

Rural(54% of the population) Total

WaterBroad definition 88% 64% 75%House connections 37% 4% 19%

Sanitation[1] Broad definition 27% 11% 18%Sewerage 13% 2% 7%

However, according to the multi-donor Africa MDG assessment access to an improved water sources is much lower (56%) and access to improved sanitation is higher (13%).

The share of non-functional supply systems in Ghana is estimated at almost one third, with many others operating substantially below designed capacity. Moreover, domestic water supply competes with a rising demand for water by the expanding industry and agriculture sectors.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Ghana - cite_note-oecd_294-12 Ghana aims at achieving 85% coverage for water supply and sanitation by 2015, which would exceed the Millennium Development Goals' target of 78%.

3. History on water and sanitation

In 1928, the first piped water supply system was constructed at Cape Coast. The Water Supply Division of the Public Works Department was responsible for the service provision in rural and urban areas of Ghana. After Ghana's independence in 1957, the division was separated from the Public Works Department and placed under the Ministry of Works and Housing. In 1965, it was transformed into the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC), a legal public utility responsible for the provision of urban and rural water supply for public, domestic, and industrial purposes as well as the establishment, operation, and control of sewerage systems.

Since 1993, various reforms have been introduced to address the problems of the sector. The key objectives of the reforms were to separate rural and urban service, to introduce independent regulatory agencies, and to promote private sector participation.

In order to pay more attention to water supply and sanitation in rural areas, the Community Water and Sanitation Division was founded as a semi-autonomous division of GWSC in 1994. Four years later, it changed its name to the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and became fully independent. In 1999, the GWSC was replaced by the publicly owned GWCL. At the same time, the responsibility for rural water supply and sanitation was decentralized to the District Assemblies. In addition, sanitation was separated from water supply and became a responsibility of the District Assemblies in urban and rural areas.

As a result, the GWCL remained responsible only for urban water supply, whereas more than 110 small towns' water systems were transferred to District Assemblies, which receive support from the CWSA. In terms of sanitation, District Assemblies are responsible in urban and rural areas. In the latter case, a demand-driven and community-managed approach was introduced.

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The regulation of water supply has been shifted from the government to independent agencies. Two commissions were created in 1997 to regulate the sector: The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has been developed to formulate and approve appropriate pricing mechanisms aimed at full cost recovery, since the government began to phase out the subsidization of water services in 2003. The PURC has no authority over community-managed water systems and only regulates GWCL services. Besides the provision of tariff guidelines and the examination and approval of tariffs, it protects the interests of consumers and providers, promotes fair competition, and initiates, conducts, and monitors standards concerning the provided service.

Whereas the PURC takes responsibility for economic regulation of urban water supply and sanitation, the Water Resources Commission (WRC) regulates water resources: it is in charge of licensing water abstraction and wastewater discharges.

3.1.21st century

To carry out the private sector participation of GWCL, originally a 10-year lease contract was envisaged . In 2000, a lease contract between GWCL and the US company Azurix failed due to public opposition and accusations of corruption which led to the formation of the Coalition against Water Privatization.

In October 2006, under the framework of the Urban Water Project (see below) a five-year management contract was signed between the GWCL and AVRL. The main objectives of this private sector participation are:

Extending reliable water supply especially to low-income areas Making potable water affordable for low-income consumers Increasing cost recovery Ensuring investments based on low-cost and concession financing Supporting further involvement of the private sector Reducing non-revenue water Increasing water treatment

The project is financed by the World Bank, the Nordic Development Fund and the Republic of Ghana (see below).

In March 2008, severe water shortages in Accra were reported, leading Boniface Abubakar Saddique, the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, to review whether AVRL is working in compliance with the management contract. However, he explained that the reason for the shortages was unforeseen power outages at two water treatment plants in Weija and Kpong. Saddique stated that the overall situation will improve notably by the end of 2008 due to several new boreholes and a more stable power supply.

3.2.National Water Policy

To overcome the lack of coordination between the numerous institutions which were created since 1993, Saddique launched a National Water Policy (NWP) at the end of

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February 2008, which focuses on the three strategic areas: (i) water resources management; (ii) urban water supply; and (iii) community water and sanitation.

Although the sector has made substantial progress, a lack of coherence in policy formulation resulted in a multitude of implementation strategies which led to new problems. The NWP thus aims to formulate a comprehensive sector policy which includes all relevant actors in the sector. According to the minister, the NWP could make it easier for development partners to provide the necessary support to the sector.

The NWP has been prepared by the Ghanaian Water Resources Commission (WRC) since 2002 and is based on the Ghanaian Constitution of 1992, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), international agreements and conventions, and other national programs.

4. Responsibility for water supply and sanitation

According to a multi-donor review of Ghana's water supply sector, it is "quite well structured", with the government in charge of policy and regulation, while the private sector and communities play important roles in service delivery. The institutional framework for sanitation is far less clear, with responsibilities not being clearly defined.

4.1 Policy and regulation

At the moment, a number of institutions exist to supervise and regulate water supply and sanitation. The entire policy framework is based on the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), the Millennium Development Goals targets, and the Government's coordination with donor assistance.

General water sector policies for both rural and urban areas are set by the Water Directorate within the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH). Furthermore, the ministry solicits funding from external support agencies, monitors the sector, and advises the Cabinet. The Water Sector Restructuring Secretariat, created in 1997 in the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, oversees the process of private sector participation in the sector.

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development shares responsibility for setting sanitation policies and coordinating funding for the subsector with MWRWH. The government promotes decentralization so that sanitation policies are expected to be carried out by Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies. To enforce environmental quality laws, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Ministry of Environment and Science is expected to examine the impact of sanitation development activities on the environment.

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4.2. Service provision

4.2.1. Urban areas

The Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL) is responsible for providing, distributing, and conserving water for domestic, public, and industrial purposes in 82 urban systems in localities with more than 5,000 inhabitants. Moreover, the company is mandated to establish, operate, and control sewerage systems in Ghana.

Local private companies are in charge of meter installation, customer billing, and revenue collection. In the framework of the urban water project, since October 2006 the private operator AVRL supports GWCL under a five-year management contract to improve its performance and rehabilitate and extend the infrastructure. Urban sanitation is a responsibility of local governments.

4.2.2. Rural areas

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) is in charge of coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the National Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP) in rural areas, which is carried out directly by the communities and their District Assemblies. The NCWSP focuses on three main objectives in order to achieve health improvements: safe water supply, hygiene education, and improved sanitation.

The CWSA was created in 1994 under the framework of the Ghana decentralization policy and became autonomous in 1998. The institution does not directly construct, operate, and maintain utilities for water supply and sanitation. Instead, its role is to coordinate the work of a number of actors which carry out the services in rural areas, including public sector organizations, local beneficiary communities, private sector organizations, and NGOs. The CWSA is also expected to ensure that financial support from development partners is effectively used and to provide rural areas and small towns with hygiene education. To carry out its tasks, the agency operates ten regional offices besides its head office in Accra.

In communities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, water supply systems are owned and managed by the respective community on a demand-driven basis. According to the NCWSP, these systems do not receive any cross-subsidies and 5% of the cost of providing the facility is paid by the operating community. Therefore, the rural communities and small towns form gender-balanced voluntary groups which are represented by elected water and sanitation boards, including one or two village-based caretakers who received special training in repair and maintenance. Communities and the CWSA are enabled to contract external actors, such as private sector consultants or NGOs, to provide technical assistance, goods, or services. Local companies are regularly encouraged in the provision of boreholes and hand-dug wells, and local artisans are used to provide household latrines. Although the communities' water and sanitation boards are expected to independently operate and maintain their water supply systems, they do receive technical assistance by District Water and Sanitation Teams

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(DWST) at the district level, consisting of an engineer, a hygiene expert, and a community mobilizer.

4.3 Other stakeholders

The Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), created in 2001, "works in partnership with sector players to influence policies, remove barriers and promote access to potable water, sanitation and improved hygiene for the poor and vulnerable." According to the coalition, giving NGOs one voice for advocacy and lobbying has been one of its major benefits.

5. Role of CLTS

Within the Ghanaian government structure, the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) is the body responsible for the implementation of a National Environmental Sanitation Policy, within which, the concept of Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) has been acknowledged as the preferred approach to scale-up rural sanitation and hygiene in Ghana.

Since 2007, a number of different agencies working in the Sanitation and Hygiene Sector have been piloting CLTS strategies. Activities have been taking place in Northern, Eastern, Central and Greater Accra Regions. The organisations spear heading these exercises have set-up and implemented the pilots independently of each other and have adopted slightly different strategic approaches and institutional arrangements.

Given the relative newness of the concept and the movement to adopt CLTS as the way forward, the EHSD, in collaboration with UNICEF, decided to conduct an in-depth assessment of the different CLTS approaches and their achievements. An evaluation has been completed and the findings presented to the Ministry for the further elaboration and formation of the national policy and strategy in terms of sanitation.

The following section presents and discusses the findings from the evaluation and the recommendations to effectively roll-out CLTS in Ghana on a wider scale1. As CLTS is an approach being introduced across the West Africa Region, discussion on this evaluation in such a forum will not only serve to inform country level partners within Ghana, but will also be an opportunity for neighboring countries to learn from the Ghanaian experience.

5.1 Background of the evaluation

In June 2009, the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in partnership with UNICEF and others

1 The following section is based on a paper submitted for the West Africa regional sanitation and hygiene symposium, Accra, Ghana (3-5 November 2009), written by N.L. Demedeme and P. Nutsugah.

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commissioned an evaluation on CLTS projects being implemented in Ghana. The evaluation covered projects by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Plan Ghana and WaterAid.

The objective of this paper is to present the finding of the Evaluation Team on CLTS implementation in Ghana and shear lessons learnt with participants

5.2 Objectives of the evaluation

The objective of the evaluation was to assess the suitability of Community Led Total Sanitation as the preferred approach for rural sanitation and to make recommendations for adapting the approach as a national strategy. The EHSD had earlier on indicated that, the CLTS approach was the preferred approach for rural sanitation in the revised environmental sanitation policy. Stakeholders had also reported various levels of success with the implementation of the CLTS pilots.

The evaluation was conducted in July and August 2009 and revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the CLTS projects as implemented in Ghana. This paper will present the background of CLTS implementation in Ghana; methodology used for the evaluation; the major findings and conclusions; as well as provide recommendations for taking the process forward in the country

5.3 Background

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Plan, UNICEF and WaterAid have been piloting CLTS since 2007 in approximately 237 communities in Ghana in an attempt to scale up hygiene and sanitation improvements. The pilot activities were in the Northern, Upper West, Eastern, Central and Greater Accra Regions. The four organizations set up the pilot exercises independently of each other and adopted slightly different institutional arrangements, drawing facilitators from different local government departments and NGOs.

Prior to the implementation of these pilot projects UNICEF had facilitated two learning visits by key stakeholders led by the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate with support from UNICEF to Bangladesh and Ethiopia in 2007 to understudy the CLTS projects in these countries. The search for a new approach to sanitation improvements was necessary as previous approaches seemed to have failed. The JMP, 2008 indicated that out of 51 African countries, Ghana placed 48th with a sanitation coverage of 10%. This coverage rate represents achievements made using subsidy based approaches to sanitation improvement under the national community water and sanitation program which has been in operation for more than a decade. Open defecation practices were common in the country and the three northern regions had 79-81% of their population involved in this practice.

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5.4 Evaluation Methodology

Thirty seven (37) communities with an average population of One Hundred and fifty made up women and children covering all 14 pilot districts in the Northern Region (NR), Upper West, Central Region (CR), Eastern Region (ER) and Greater Accra (GAR) regions were selected as sample communities for the evaluation. The communities represented approximately 15% of the total communities where CLTS was being piloted. Key characteristics of the sample included; communities where CLTS was well established, communities where CLTS was at initial stage of implementation, presence of credit schemes for sanitation and communities where SaniMarts or subsidies were provided.

An evaluation team comprising an international consultant, a local consultant and 4 nationals drawn from the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, WaterAid and Trend was formed to ensure participation of stakeholders in the assignment.

Interview guides were prepared for key informants at the national and regional levels and semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions held with district and community level informants. The evaluation team also undertook observations using a checklist at the community level. Key informants/respondents included staff of the funding and implementing agencies, local government authorities, environmental health officers, chiefs, queen mothers, community opinion leaders, children, community based hygiene volunteers, water and sanitation committee members, latrine artisans who are members of the communities with Masonary background and Sanimart operators.

After analyzing the data from the field, findings were presented to stakeholders at a validation workshop.it was interesting to hear some of the finding prominent among them was the Okyeamikissi in the Kwahu North District of the Eastern Region of Ghana where the members of the community decided to put up child friendly sanitation facility in addition to that of adults The entire assignment was guided by the national working group on sanitation.

5.5 Key Findings of the Evaluation

The Evaluation revealed that the projects had led to significant sanitation improvements in more than 200 communities in Ghana which was part of the . 60% of the communities visited had access to latrines; clean environments, well maintained refuse pits/ and some had hand washing facilities with soap in use next to the latrines. A total of 1857 household latrines were constructed over a period of two years which is very significant and if they are facilitated well with other PLA tools like the Sanitation Ladder they can move up and encourage others to construct their own household latrines and at least 5 communities had 100% coverage of improved sanitation facilities. 69 communities have been declared open defecation free.

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Awareness of faeco- oral transmission routes was very high and safe behavioural practices were very encouraging among the communities where CLTS had been promoted. Community members in ODF communities indicated a reduction in diarrhoeal diseases although there was no empirical evidence to support this assertion. CLTS has empowered many extension workers in the use of the Participatory Learning Assessment Tools to move from didactic hygiene education to empowering community members to take charge of their sanitation situation through participatory assessment, community action plans and sustenance of positive behavioural practices.

There were however challenges with facilitating CLTS by the Environmental Health Assistants due to limited knowledge in the use of the Participatory Learning Assessment Tools and their orientation as Public Health Law Enforcers who are use to arresting and prosecuting Sanitary offenders and in most cases lack means of transport to the communities for follow-up visit during the post-triggering stage, a situation that affected success in those areas. The local NGO staff on the other hand excelled in facilitating CLTS as they already had experience with facilitating participatory approaches. The EHAs need greater capacity building to make them more effective at CLTS facilitation.

The evaluation revealed that community members once triggered were eager to stop open defecation and construct their own household latrines. Major setbacks faced included the lack of credit for latrine construction, low-cost measures for dealing with latrine construction in flood prone areas, unstable soils and shallow ground water areas as well as the fear of having smelly toilets next to their bedrooms and kitchens.

Although several studies point to children as effective change agents, most of the CLTS projects had sidelined children ,this was attributed to the days chosen for the triggering which are usually weekdays when the children were in school This could result in outcomes that are not sustainable as children like adults engage in open defecation. It is the view of many community members that children are the worst culprits of open defecation practice.

Some Local Government (District Assembly) Authorities were found to be promoting latrine construction projects which were at variance with the CLTS approach. This indicated the need for harmonized national strategy and advocacy. Ghana’s previous experience with subsidies has also been a major challenge in implementing CLTS. In the Abura Asebu Kwamankese in the Central Region for example the European Union (EU) is still promoting the construction of Public Toilets in communities.

Some communities had attained ODF status but because they had not been certified and celebrated, their achievement had diminished in significance and the opportunity to use the celebration as an advocacy tool was lost. Two communities that were celebrated and honoured nationally by Community Water and Sanitation Agency and their respective District Assemblies have sustained ODF status for a year whilst two others that were not celebrated have resorted to open defecation practices.

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Finally it was realized that there was little documentation of the baseline situation, processes and outcome of CLTS. This resulted in difficulties in assessing information on budget line and the cost involved in attaining Open Defaecation Free (ODF) by the Evaluation team. The absence of proper documentation also has implications for advocacy and knowledge management.

5.6 Conclusions and Recommendations

Based on the assessment of achievements, constraints and potentials the Evaluation Team concluded that CLTS could become a cost effective, commercially viable in the sense that if the process is well facilitated from the inception and effort made by committed facilitators who are provided with the requisite logistics to follow up on the post triggering activities ,sustainable solution to the sanitation challenges in the rural areas of Ghana will be achieved if a national CLTS strategy and action plan is developed and a complementary capacity building and advocacy plan executed to ensure proper implementation and national level support.

The CLTS strategy should include children to ensure faster and longer lasting behavioral change. Greater attention should also be paid to ODF certification and celebration as a means of encouraging and sustaining positive behaviour change. To ensure that community members have easy access to technological knowledge to enable them move up the sanitation ladder, the CLTS strategy should include measures to build the capacity of latrine artisans for hygienic and safe latrine construction particularly in difficult environmental conditions such as shallow water table areas, unstable soils and flood prone areas. Sanitation financing should also be considered as an important aspect of the strategy.

The CLTS action plan should make provision for the documentation of processes, lessons learnt, best practices and outcomes in a SMART monitoring and management information system as a matter of strategic importance.

Finally it is recommended that a thorough evaluation of impact of CLTS be done after two years after this evaluation.

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Annex 1: Reference review

http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/country/ghana

Demedeme, N. L . Nutsugah, P. (2009). Evaluation of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) In Ghana. Paper presented at West Africa regional sanitation and hygiene symposium, Accra, Ghana, 3-5 November 2009. Available at:http://www.irc.nl/page/50830 + PPT

Magala, J.M. and Roberts, L. (2009). Evaluation of strategy for scaling up community led total sanitation in Ghana : final report. New York, NY, USA, UNICEF. Available at: http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/resource/evaluation-strategy-scaling-clts-ghana

WaterAid Ghana (2009). Monthly update from Ghana : Gozakope constructs its first latrines in over 100 years. Accra Ghana, WaterAid. Available at:http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/resource/gozakope-constructs-its-first-latrines-over-100-years

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Annex 2: Case studies

Children’s involvement in community-led total sanitation (CLTS): A case study of Oboyambo community in Central region of Ghana

By Daniel Sarpong

Introduction The Oboyambo community is in the Agona East District of the Central Region of Ghana and has a population of 512 including children. The community is made up three different ethnic groups mainly; Fantes, Ewes and Northerners. The community has 67 households and out of this 3 had latrines prior to CLTS activities in 2008. CLTS implementation in the community has partly contributed to the construction of a school building which started with 30 pupils. Now the school population stands at 150.

Pre-School Project The self help spirit encouraged by CLTS has helped the people of Oboyambo to embark on a school building project for their preschoolers. The community had earlier on put up a structure with bamboo and straw as a classroom for the pre-scholars. The facility however collapsed after a short while. After some months, they mobilized resources to build a mud and wattle structure for the school children and employed teachers to teach the children. The community contributed in terms of labour, sand, stones and water. The Masons and carpenters were drawn from the community to put up the two class room built with bricks. The most interesting part of the project was the involvement of children and women during the construction of the school building. They were tasked to fetch water from the stream to the building site.

Children active involvement in CLTS Generally, children participated actively during the baseline data collection, particularly on the community mapping, refuse sites, recreational centers and water points. During the time of tracing the route of transmission of diseases, children realized that their excreta were washed directly into the stream. They therefore resolved to stop swimming and drinking from the stream. The children also educated their parents and that helped to settle the dispute over the borehole. The children supported the women and men to weed, and sweep the surroundings and wash the borehole platform. Prior to CLTS activities, the community members used to fetch water from the stream and had abandoned a borehole in the community. Weeds had taken control of the borehole site and it was virtually impossible to access the facility. When the community was triggered and members went through the walk of shame and glass of water, the community realized that they were indirectly ingesting their faeces through their continuous use of the water from the stream. The children who were mostly seen swimming in the stream realized the risk of open defecation; they had a change of mind and attitude.

Formation of a children’s Club in the school

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Through the CLTS process, a club was formed by the children to carry hygiene messages across the community. The children used drama, role play and quiz competitions in the awareness creation process. The children are responsible for sweeping the classrooms, compound, and toilet and urinal. From time to time, the community members visit the school to weed the surroundings and remove cobwebs. These were done in collaboration with the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), school management and opinion leaders. The club periodically cleans the communal latrine and sweep streets. They also promote hand washing with soap campaign in school and at home. In short, the children are the hygiene ambassadors in the community. The teachers have also been helpful in developing action plans for the school and community to attain an open defecation- free status.

Obayambo receives support from Japan In the year 2006, Plan Ghana received grant support from Plan Japan to construct a 4-class room block with modern pre-school facilities for the community. The support came as a result of the community self help spirit and good leadership qualities exhibited by the chief and elders.

Lessons from the CLTS implementation Children’s active involvement in the CLTS helped to settle the dispute among community members over improper financial accountability of borehole water sales.

Children participation in the CLTS process facilitated the need to provide the school with child friendly toilet facilities, hand washing facilities, drinking water facilities, urinals and canteens

Formation of school young club led to the training of food vendors on good nutritional practices and food handling.

Children and teachers effective collaboration with parents and opinion leaders attracted support from Plan Ghana to search for grant to build modern classroom for the community.

The formation of School Clubs helped to carry the hygiene message across the community.

Children were involved in ODF declaration and celebration.

Key Success factors and best practices One of the key factors that led to the successful project implementation was the fact that there were regular follow-ups and high commitment on the part of the natural leaders.

People who were caught defecating openly were fined an amount of five Ghana Cedis ($3.50 equivalent) and a bottle of schnapps. The community watch- dog committee was very vibrant.

Good leadership and community self help spirit

Good facilitation by Partner Organizations and follow ups by Plan staff.

The neighboring community has learnt from the Oboyambo community and has adopted the CLTS approach.

Conclusion

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In conclusion, the involvement and active participation of children in CLTS or SLTS is paramount. Children are capable of transforming a community and therefore they should be involved in community developmental project.

Acknowledgement The author would like to extend sincere appreciation to Plan International, the donors and all those who contributed in diverse ways during the preparation of this paper.

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Reference 1. Report on improving sanitation and hygiene situation at Oboyambo using CLTS, 2008 2. End of phase one report for Plan Ghana’s water and sanitation program in the Mankessim Program Area, July 2006 3. Interview with Plan Program Area Manager, Bawjiase, (21th July, 2010). 4. Interview with Plan community facilitator, Bawjiase, (21th July, 2010.)

Keywords School Led Total Sanitation, School Young Club, Northerners, Preschoolers Contact details Daniel Sarpong Water and Sanitation Advisor Plan Ghana Tel: +233 244 48 84 40 E-mail: Daniel.Sarpong@plan-international.org; dsarpong@yahoo.com

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Girls as natural leaders in CLTS in school

By: Daniel Sarpong

One would have thought or argued that boys have the courage and selfless spirit to work as natural leaders in communities. It turns out that girls equally have all that it takes to become natural leaders in support of either community or school project. A very good example began during the SLTS triggering activities at Kanchau basic school in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region in Ghana. There was a drinking water competition which involved boys and girls during the triggering activities. In all, three students volunteered including two young girls of age 12 and 13. The girls decided to participate in the competition to prove to their male counterpart that what men can do, women can equally do it even better. They were given an equal amount of clean water to drink. At the end of the first round, it was not clear who won the competition because they all finished drinking the water virtually at the same time. A second round trip drinking competition was proposed and the facilitator requested a little amount of shit to be added to the water. It was expected that the school children would drink since it was a competition but surprisingly, none of the competitors was ready to take the glass of water to the month, let alone, to drink the water being served. It was then that the 12years old girls made a declaration to the whole students and teachers that she was not going to drink the water because it was polluted with shit. She further explained that their water sources were polluted with shit because most people practice open defecation in the community. Her statement received a big applause from her colleagues. Another girl of age 13 stood in front of the teachers and other students and exclaimed; “We will stop shitting behind the classrooms and near wells”. Others joined her to declare that they will report anybody who would be caught defecating openly to the elders of the community. Some boys explained in their native language to their friends about the linkage between polluted water and diarrhoea. What broke the camel’s back was the boldness and courage the school girls had to say that “we will not continue to defecate in the bush and around wells or ponds” and that they will go every length to ensure that their parents construct latrines for them. The student composed songs and chanted in the streets of the community. They developed a clear action plan which was to be monitored by the student leaders and teachers. Lesson learnt

Girls have courage and selfless working spirits to support community/school achieve ODF.

Song composed was initiated by girls and it received great backings from their male counterparts.

Girls can influence the peers to take up advocacy issues up to higher levels. Girls can equally match up with boys in decision-making and persuade their parents

to construct latrines and their effort should be acknowledged.

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