Government is failing to keep its promise of securing funding for sanitation, a new report by the international development charity, WaterAid has revealed.
The report warns that unless investment is increased, the challenges of urbanization, inequality of access, climate change and population growth risk turning back the clock even further.
From 1990 to 2010, the population of Ghana grew by 9.4 million, however only 2.3 million people gained access to sanitation over the same period.
In total, nearly 21 million out of 24 million people (86 percent of the population) are without improved toilet facilities. Almost 50 percent use shared latrines while 19 percent practice open defecation.
The report, entitled ‘Keeping promises: why African leaders need now to deliver on their past water and sanitation commitments’ uses the government’s own figures to demonstrate that funding for sanitation has fallen short of their public commitments.
Between 2008 and 2011, Ghana has spent on average 0.34 percent of its GDP (GH¢116.45 million) on water and sanitation combined.
This is far short of the 0.5 percent of GDP that the government committed to spending on sanitation alone through the 2008 eThekwini African Union declaration.
The WaterAid report called on government, alongside other African governments, to not only meet their 2008 eThekwini spending commitments of 0.5 percent of GDP, but go further by aiming to spend at least 1 percent of GDP on sanitation and hygiene in line with the recommendations of a 2011 World Bank report.
The report also highlights World Bank figures, showing that poor sanitation access currently costs Ghana 1.6 percent of its GDP a year.
This is four times the average annual amount being spent to improve access to both water and sanitation.
Dr. Afia Zakiya, WaterAid Ghana’s Country Representative said: “Ghanaians waste 850 million hours every year looking for somewhere to go to the toilet and you can add to this the costs of illness and medical bills of those contracting diseases due to the unhygienic conditions. Overall, the loss to Ghana is 420 million Cedis per year.
Now is the time for the government to meet its financial commitments on sanitation and end sanitation and water poverty, and its daily toll on human life, health and livelihoods.”
Five years on, little progress has been made on separate budget lines for spending on sanitation and water, which is another key commitment made as part of the eThekwini declaration to improve accountability and track progress.