© 2024 All rights reserved
MOLE Conference Series
MOLE XXXV CONFERENCE
BACKGROUND PAPER
THEME
Looking Back on SDG 6 implementation in Ghana: Progress, Challenges and Way forward.
Background
The MOLE conference series which was first organized in 1989 by a group of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) has become the main rallying platform for discussing issues on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). This feat has been attained due to the tenacity of purpose, commitment and dynamic leadership exhibited by the trailblazers and subsequently the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) the effective collaboration with other key players including central and local government institutions, development partners, academic and research institutions, and the private sector among others.
This year’s conference is happening against the backdrop of the international and national concerns and discussions on climate change and water resources management, institutional alignment for effective service delivery. At the national level, development and roll-of new WASH policies (GWASHSDP, Water Policy and Sanitation Policy) is an added impetus for policy discussions on looking back to catalyze momentum into the future. Securing Government and stakeholder commitments to WASH and assessing progress, reviewing challenges, and discussing way forward is a clear action to work towards national vision of WASH for all agenda by 2030.
Consistent with the coalition’s mission of working in partnership with relevant stakeholders to influence policies, remove barriers and to promote access safe WASH for the poor and vulnerable, this year’s event will set the agenda and commence a national dialogue aimed at reviewing Ghana’s progress on sustainable,safe and equitable WASH services delivery, and to accelerate discussions on institutional arrangement/alignment appropriate for enhanced co-ordination, collaboration among relevant Government agencies, co-ordination between Government agencies and Civil Society Organizations/ Development Partners/Private Sector. The conference will also dive into effective service delivery approaches and methods to sustain, while reviewing some approaches within the context of rolling out revised national WASH policies.
Context
The vision for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 is to reach everyone everywhere by 2030. The SDG 6 is an ambitious desire to ‘ensure availability and Sustainable Management of Water and Sanitation for All’ by 2030. The Government of Ghana is making every effort to fully meet all its Sanitation and Water targets by 2030. The National vision for water and sanitation sector is “sustainable basic water and sanitation service for all by 2025” which in detailed terms means “all people living in Ghana have access to adequate, safe, affordable and reliable basic water service, practise safe sanitation and hygiene and that water resources are sustainably managed”[1].
SDG 6 targets 6.1 and 6.2 call for drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene call for the equitable access to safe and adequate services for all, as well as end open defecation. The Government of Ghana has aligned itself to the goal and targets and is taking appropriate steps to review national WASH policies to also reflect the Africa Agenda 2063, N’gor and other SWA commitments.
The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) in 2023 published the Ghana WASH Sector Development Programme (GWASHSDP, 2023-2030), published the revised 2024 National Water Policy in July,2024 and finalizing the revised national Environmental Sanitation Policy and related strategies and plans to align with the SDG standards and national aspirations as well as taking decisive actions on proposed institutional and funding restructuring by the Government.
The actualization of Ghana’s WASH vision is further bolstered by on-going reforms[2] in the rural and small-town water delivery with professionalization of staffing and service delivery at the core. Hopefully, this will deal with hydra-headed, regulation, sustainability, and equity challenges in WASH services delivery. Mole XXXV will ignite renewed commitment in Ghana’s WASH sector to the SDGs, seeking to catalyze bold and collective actions for the sustainable and equitable WASH services delivery.
Despite progress made on WASH services delivery since from 2015 to 2024, there are still challenges with co-ordination among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) especially when viewed with the lens of promoting climate-resilient WASH service delivery. Institutional WASH (Health Care Facilities, Schools, Prisons etc) have witnessed some level of improved collaboration and co-ordination among MDAs, but vertical and horizontal coordination needs to be improved to sustain the gains made. Approaches, Strategies, Methods should be in sync with policies and enabling environment to sustain innovative WASH service delivery.
Innovative financing options should respond to various appropriate technologies which should address service delivery challenges in last mile communities. The role of the private is critical in providing and sustaining safe WASH services to the ‘last mile’ communities with appropriate technology and innovative financing strategies. Looking back, addressing pact and current challenges will help in fashioning appropriate strategies, methods and plans for sustainable, equitable and safe WASH services.
MOLE XXXV Conference
MOLE XXXV Conference will focus on looking back on Ghana’s Sustainable Development Goal Six (SDG6) implementation, and reviewing approaches, methods and discussing effective institutional alignment to achieve the 2030 SDG6 and national WASH targets. The MOLE XXXV Conference is intended to create a common space where policymakers, practitioners and researchers can gather to give account on the state of Ghana’s WASH delivery systems – through the review of available evidence, interrogating the science and methods, exploring the latest learnings and existing experiences, towards reviewing progress, assessing challenges to address the WASH service delivery gaps. Conference will also explore how WASH delivery methods; sector coordination and current service delivery models will impact on Ghana’s pace towards achieving WASH for all by 2030.
Objectives
The overall objective of the conference is to look back on Ghana’s SDG six implementation trajectory, assess progress, review changes, and discuss way forward towards universal access to sustainable WASH services in the country by discussing the systems, approaches method, and models of WASH service delivery, and discussing the challenges and way forward for climate resistant, safe, sustainable, and equitable WASH services delivery.
The specific objectives include the following:
Participants
The conference will attract the participation of the following stakeholders and actors:
Expected outcomes.
Benefits
The conference will offer a rare opportunity for participants to:
Thematic Scope
The theme for the conference is “ Looking Back on SDG six implementation in Ghana: Progress, Challenges and Way forward”. The five sub-themes to be discussed in detail are the following:
Sub-theme 1: Institutional Alignment: This theme will highlight and discuss current institutional arrangement with a view to recommending appropriate institutional arrangement that will help address threats of climate change, sustain WASH-Health linkages as well promote WASH in schools and prisons. This sub-theme will emphasize cross-sectoral collaboration and integration, particularly with health and education sectors.
Key Pathways:
Key Pathways:
Key Pathways:
Key Pathways:
Format
The conference will aim at balancing plenary and panel discussions with interactive parallel sections and opportunities for maximizing interaction among participants. Apart from the main conference venue, two virtual conference centers with an online link will also be established to enable participation from persons who will be unable to travel to the main conference venue. A conference reception, capacity-building workshops, field trips to WASH facility in Cape Coast or Elmina, tourist visits and a special dinner and awards night will also form part of the conference.
The following will constitute the various components of the conference:
Conference Communiqué:
A key output of the conference will be a presentation of the Conference Communiqué in a press conference which will capture key decisions from conference proceedings.
CONTACT US
The Executive Secretary
Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS)
P.M. B. 24, KIA, Accra, Phone: +233 244 595 664 +233 558 652 313
E-mail: info@coniwasghana.com / coniwas@yahoo.com
Website: https://coniwasghana.com/
Zonal Coordinators
Northern Zone
Freeman Kanton
CARO Ghana
+233 547 840 902
Email: caroghana@gmail.com
Middle Zone
Isaac Acheampong Fianko
Beyond Hope Foundation
Tel: +233 244 514 860
Email: beyondhopefoundation@yahoo.com
Southern Zone
Abigail Naana Ansah-Addo
RWDP
Tel: +233 208 175 526
Email: naaadams@yahoo.com
[1] Government of Ghana (2012): Water and Sanitation Sector Development Plan (2012-2025).
[2] Led by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, responsible for rural and small-town water supply delivery
MOLE XXXIV CONFERENCE
BACKGROUND PAPER
THEME
Building Inclusive and Resilient Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) systems to reach the unserved.
Background
The MOLE conference series which was first organized in 1989 by a group of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) has become the main rallying platform for discussing issues on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). This feat has been attained due to the tenacity of purpose, commitment and dynamic leadership exhibited by the trailblazers and subsequently, the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) leads the effective collaboration with other key players including central and local government institutions, development partners, academic and research institutions, and the private sector among others.
This year’s conference is happening against the backdrop of the complexities and uncertainties of global economic challenges, supply chain bottlenecks (arising from COVID-19 pandemic), and ongoing climate change, which has been described as the ‘triple crises. Securing Government and stakeholder commitments to WASH and building inclusive and resilient WASH systems to reach the unserved populations is a clear action to turn the ‘triple crises’ into a ‘triple win’.
Consistent with the coalition’s mission of working in partnership with relevant stakeholders to influence policies, remove barriers and to promote access safe WASH for the poor and vulnerable, this year’s event will set the agenda and commence a national dialogue aimed at holding Government and other duty-bearers to account on their commitments to WASH, and to change the narrative regarding the approach to the delivery of sustainable WASH services in Ghana.
Context
With seven (7) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 agenda, the vision for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 is to reach everyone everywhere by 2030. The SDG 6 is an ambitious desire to ‘ensure availability and Sustainable Management of Water and Sanitation for All’ by 2030. The Government of Ghana is making every effort to fully meet all its Sanitation and Water targets by 2030. The National vision for water and sanitation sector is “sustainable basic water and sanitation service for all by 2030” which in detailed terms means “all people living in Ghana have access to adequate, safe, affordable and reliable basic water service, practise safe sanitation and hygiene and that water resources are sustainably managed”[1].
SDG 6 targets 6.1 and 6.2 calls for drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene call for the equitable access to safe and adequate services for all, as well as end open defecation. The Government of Ghana has aligned itself to the goal and targets and is taking appropriate steps to review national WASH policies to also reflect the Africa Agenda 2063, N’gor and other SWA commitments.
The actualization of Ghana’s WASH vision is further bolstered by recently launched Ghana WASH Sector Development Plan (GWASHSDP, 2021-2030)[2], and the on-going sector reforms[3] in the rural and small-town water delivery with professionalization of staffing and service delivery at the core. Hopefully, this will deal with hydra-headed sustainability and equity challenges in WASH services delivery.
Building the resilience of water and sanitation infrastructure to climate shocks is critical to ensure equitable and sustainable WASH service delivery.
For Ghana to meet the above-stated vision, an improved understanding of equity issues is imperative. Equity-focused programming and effective targeting of the poor and marginalized beyond the current geographic targeting is urgently needed. More funding and technical guidance for post- construction operation and maintenance support by the Government and partners are crucial to sustain WASH services. The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) is in the final stages of revising the 2007 National Water Policy. The GWASHSDP, the draft Water National Policy 2021, and other policies and strategies under development all align with the SDG standards and national aspirations. The call is for Government to take bold and decisive actions on ongoing sector reforms to take sector regulation seriously, with clear institutional re-organization backed adequate and predictable funding to build inclusive and resilient WASH Systems to reach the unserved.
MOLE XXXIV Conference
MOLE XXXIV Conference will focus on building inclusive and resilient WASH systems to reach the unserved. This is important step as Ghana accelerate efforts to achieve the 2030 SDG6 WASH targets. The MOLE XXXIV Conference is intended to create a common space where policymakers, practitioners and researchers can gather to give account on the state of Ghana’s WASH delivery systems – through the review of available evidence, interrogating the science and methods, exploring the latest learnings and existing experiences, towards bridging the WASH service delivery gaps. Conference will also discuss how the implementation of resilient WASH systems will address access and equity, and how current service delivery models will impact on Ghana’s pace towards achieving WASH for all.
Objectives
The overall objective of the conference is to review equity and inclusive approaches toward building resilient WASH services in the country. The focus of discussions will include systems, approaches, and models of resilient WASH service delivery. The specific objectives include the following:
Participants
The conference will attract the participation of the following stakeholders and actors:
Expected outcomes
Benefits
The conference will offer a rare opportunity for participants to:
Thematic Scope
The theme for the conference is ‘‘Building Inclusive and Resilient Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) systems to reach the unserved. The five sub-themes to be discussed in detail are the following:
Sub-theme 1: WASH System Strengthening: This theme will highlight the systems approach to equitable service delivery methods. The key WASH system building blocks and innovations that promote universal access to WASH services as well as promising solutions for improving access to safe drinking water, paying attention to equity issues, water safety and sustainable management of Ghana’s WASH resources. Building resilient WASH systems in a collaborative and coordinated manner is critical to ensure sustainability.
Key Pathways:
Sustainable financing.
Key Pathways:
Key Pathways:
Key Pathways:
Format
The conference will aim at balancing plenary and panel discussions with interactive parallel sections and opportunities for maximizing interaction among participants. Apart from the main conference venue, two virtual conference centers with an online link will also be established to enable participation from persons who will be unable to travel to the main conference venue. A conference reception, capacity-building workshops, field trips to WASH facility Jirapa, tourist visits and a special dinner and awards night will also form part of the conference.
The following will constitute the various components of the conference:
Conference Communiqué:
A key output of the conference will be a presentation of the Conference Communiqué in a press conference which will capture key decisions from conference proceedings.
CONTACT US
The Executive Secretary
Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS)
P.M. B. 24, KIA, Accra, Phone: +233 24459-5664 +233 24 498 9085
E-mail: coniwas@yahoo.com
Website: www.coniwas.org
[1] Government of Ghana (2012): Water and Sanitation Sector Development Plan (2012-2025).
[2] Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, January,2023.
[3] Led by the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, responsible for rural and small-town water supply delivery
Mole Conference Series has witnessed consistent growth of interest and importance since its inception in 1989 among civil society, policy makers, ministries…
© 2024 All rights reserved