CONFERENCE COMMUNIQUE : Ghana Water Forum-III

MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, WORKS AND HOUSING

THIRD GHANA WATER FORUM

5th -7th September, 2011

CONFERENCE COMMUNIQUE

Preamble and Overview

The Third Ghana Water Forum was organised by the Water Directorate of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing from 5^th – 7^th September 2011.  The forum focused on issues of water and sanitation in urban areas in Ghana and was under the theme: “Water and Sanitation Services Delivery in a Rapidly Changing Urban Environment”.

The forum brought together participants from government institutions, the private sector, NGOs, Development Partners, Academia, District Assemblies and international organisations who are into water and sanitation.   

Three side events were organised as part of the forum, and each side event has a separate communiqué.  The side events were:

·         Ministerial and Development Partners Roundtable (M&DPR):

·         Business Roundtable:

·         Ghana Youth and Children’s Forum (GYCF): 

Dr. Iyabode Olusanmi spoke on behalf of the Development Partners.  She recapped progress made by the sector in the last year and gave three specific issues on Ghana’s rapidly growing cities as follows:

• The proposed establishment of the Ghana Urban Water Company and commended the Government on the setting up of a Transitional Steering Committee to guide the process;
• The continued extremely poor state of Ghana’s urban sanitation flies in the face of the middle income status of the country; and
• Peri-urban fringes are fast growing and can be overlooked under the current institutional arrangements.

The keynote address at the Opening of the Conference was delivered by the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon. A. S. K. Bagbin, on behalf of His Excellency the President.  He reiterated the commitment of government to work to achieve the MDGs and even go beyond the MDG target of 76% and reach the national target of 85% for water by 2015.  He emphasised the commitment of government to the SWA compact and the government strategy of providing 20,000 boreholes to rural communities.  He also urged assemblies in big cities to coordinate among themselves in accordance with the relevant laws to achieve urban goals in water and sanitation.

The theme address was delivered by Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi of GIMPA.  He made key suggestions and recommendations which include the following:

• Ghana’s rapidly increasing urban population means we cannot continue to use of old systems for the provision of water and sanitation which have been largely ineffective;
• Water sanitation and environmental hygiene should be holistically managed and controlled together;
• The need to decentralise the water and sanitation sector in such a way that it will be managed at the appropriate local level with the participation of the people;
• The possibility of production, transmission and distribution of water being done by different bodies or organisations as well as introducing the novelty of Independent Water Producers;
• The possibility of ‘regionalising’ urban water supply and management by clustering urban settlements around the water production and treatment sources;
• Water should be considered a ‘natural right’ and ensure that any options should have a ‘safety net’ to cater for the marginalised. A water fund should be set up to serve this safety net among others.
• The fiscal decentralisation principle of ‘the finances follows the functions’ must be applied in the sanitation sub-sector.

Statements

After three days of deliberations and discussions, participants came up with the following conclusions on urban water and sanitation services delivery:

1.      A National Water Fund should be set up for Monitoring and Evaluation as well as for capital expenditure in the sector and also to serve as a safety net for the poor and marginalized.

2.      There should be a paradigm shift from waste disposal to waste reuse for wealth generation and the creation of an enabling environment for investments in waste reuse.

3.      The Sector Strategic Development Plan (SSDP) should be well disseminated after its finalization through an effective communication strategy.

4.      As a way forward for urban water services, management of urban water supply services should be decentralized to enhance efficiency. The separation of the key functions of production, transmission and distribution to be handled by different entities could also be considered.

5. The concept of Independent Water Producers (IWPs) should be considered in the new scheme of things for the sector, and the Private Sector should be involved in these processes.
6. Self supply of water facilities should be recognized and mainstreamed into service delivery options to accelerate coverage and promote sustainability.
7. Guidelines should be developed to define a clear role for the private sector in the management of urban water services.
8. Partnerships for collaboration between the private sector and the public sector and also among private sector players should be strengthened.
9. The sector should identify and implement a uniform monitoring and evaluation system as a matter of urgency.
10. Funding for Post-Construction support for small towns should be provided.
11. Clear cut funding should be targeted for sector stakeholders to enable households provide their own sanitation. Local authorities should also carry out their mandate to ensure building codes are enforced with respect to provision of toilet facilities.
12. Sanitation technologies which have resource recovery mechanisms especially for agriculture and energy should be adopted and implemented.
13. Rainwater harvesting should be encouraged in the construction of new buildings with an incentive scheme.
14. Extensive surveillance and stringent measures should be put in place to monitor surface water, ground water and drinking water quality nationwide.
15. National frameworks should be developed to guide Public Private Partnerships as well as Community-Utility Partnerships.
16. A mechanism to encourage and utilize knowledge generated within the sector should be created to minimize waste of resources and improve efficiency.

Conclusion

The conference therefore concluded that water, sanitation and hygiene services in general should be integrated. Sector stakeholders and institutions including the private sector should play their defined and interlinked roles. Decentralised institutions should also be strengthened and the necessary resources made available for them to undertake their roles effectively.

Accra, Ghana, September 7, 2011

"Water and Sanitation Services Delivery in a Rapidly Changing Urban Environment"