Koforidua-Ghana, Sept. 9, CDA Consult – While Ghana has achieved notable progress in terms of access to safe water, it is disappointing that the same cannot be said about environmental issues, according to Mr. Yaw Atta Arhin, World Vision Ghana’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Technical Specialist.
“Progress towards ending open defecation and ensuring improved sanitation for all continues to be very slow,” Mr. Arhin stated at the Eastern Regional Media Coalition Against Open Defecation Journalists Empowerment Forum at Koforidua.
The platform was also used to establish the M-CODe Open Defecation Free Stakeholder Engagement Platform as well as the launch of the Eastern Regional branch of the M-CODe.
The training’s goal was to hasten the fight against the practice in the area because the country depends on its eradication by 2030.
Mr. Arhin tasked M-CODe to step up its efforts across the nation through creative campaigns, the employment of well-known individuals as open defecation-free ambassadors, and the regular use of conventional and social media.
The M-CODe National Convenor, Mr. Francis Ameyibor, noted that the media coalition aims to foster collaboration among media professionals and other stakeholders in order to identify problems and operational gaps and work towards a common objective in the battle against open defecation.
Mr. Ameyibor made notice of the necessity for stakeholders to collaborate with the media in order to end open defecation.
He mentioned that World Vision Ghana is supporting the “M-CODe 2023 Anti-Open Defecation Nationwide Advocacy efforts,” which include the journalist empowerment event and launch.
The Eastern Regional Coordination Council (RCC), the Regional Environmental Health Office (REHO), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the Regional SHEP, and the Ghana Education Service were among the stakeholders who took part in the event.
Other organizations include the Ghana Health Service, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Municipal SHEP, and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
The group, according to Mr. Ameyibor, must also struggle to preserve and revitalize its activism in order to change the laws and create a society free from open defecation.
The M-CODe National Convenor discussed the public awareness campaign for the 2030 worldwide goal of ending open defecation (OD) and the media’s empowerment as key partners in local revitalization.
Meanwhile, the Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODe) has been praised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) for launching a persistent national advocacy campaign against the practice with the goal of abolishing it by 2030.
In her remarks, Mrs. Ophelia Ankrah, the NCCE Eastern Regional Director, emphasized the importance of collaboration among all parties in order to put a stop to the regrettable practice in the nation.
The NCCE Eastern Regional Director added that the commission will work with other regional stakeholders to make sure that “we all fight against the problem and deal with it holistically” at the regional level.
She emphasized that the fight against open defecation will continually be on their agenda and that the NCCE Regional and District Directors will join in the fight.
“We will work with M-CODe Eastern Regional Branch to upscale the fight; we need to fight on towards attaining open defecation-free status in the region,” she declared.
