The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Dr Freda Prempeh, yesterday opened a two-day dialogue meeting for key players in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sectors at Aburi in the Akuapem South Municipality of the Eastern Region.
The event is aimed at soliciting inputs for the revision of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to addressing the challenges as well as its role in the nation’s sustainable development.
According to her the time had come to move from aspirations to implementation and from strategy to conclusion.
Issues being discussed include NDCs and its pre-requisites by EPA, solid waste management, actions for w resources and utilities, action for liquid waste and climate financing and Carbon market.
The participants are from Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONNIWAS), Water Aid, the Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Finance, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the Environmental Protection Agency Jekorah Ventures, the National Development Planning Commission and the Water Resources Commission.
The minister whose speech was read on her behalf urged stakeholders in the sector “to think beyond the traditional approaches and explore innovative solutions that can leapfrog the sector to new heights.”
The NDCs she explained, were not mere documents but the blue print for a sustainable, resilient, and thriving future as they outline the country’s commitment to reducing greenhouse emissions and adaptation to climate change.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the actions and programmes set out are not just words on paper but, realities that transform lives,” she added.
The minister indicated that the time had come to revitalise and effectively implement these programmes of action in order to fully harness its public-private partnerships, civil society and international cooperation.
She urged the need for “accurate, timely and comprehensive data collection” to guide the stakeholders in their actions as well as make informed decisions to hold them accountable to the goals set for the sector.
Dr Prempeh noted that even though the NDCs possessed significant priority actions on Biogas, it was currently being overlooked as there was no overseeing or coordination by any sector ministry.
She said despite these challenges the NDCs still acknowledge the potential of institutional biogas and advanced technology capable of significantly reducing carbon footprint in the waste water sub-sector.
The minister charged the participants to commit to a “data-driven action, innovative solutions and renewed sense of purpose to provide clean water and sanitation for the people.”
The Country Lead, Feed the Future Ghana, Yunus Abdulai, said climate change was not a distant threat as its impacts were already reshaping the lives of the people and key economic actors including agriculture, water and sanitation.
He stated that high temperatures within the sector and its accompanying erratic rainfall had impacted severely in semi-arid areas as northern Ghana which had a single rainfall pattern.
FROM LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU, ABURI
