Addressing nationwide capacity gaps in WASH planning
Published on: 26/07/2023
"A Regional Medium Term Development Plan, and a Regional Integrated Plan are being developed. I will urge the Regional Planning Coordinating Unit to ensure that the WASH components of these plans are well crafted to be able to attract the partnerships needed to achieve universal access to WASH in the Ahafo region."
– Hon. George Yaw Boakye, Ahafo Regional Minister
In 2017, with funding from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, IRC Ghana worked with the Asutifi North District and other partners to develop the Asutifi North Ahonidie Mpontuo WASH master plan. The initiative resulted in 90% of the population gaining access to at least basic water services, with efforts now focusing on the hard-to-reach, small and isolated communities, and sanitation.
In 2022, the District Chief Executive of Asutifi North, Hon. Anthony Mensah, presented these results at an Ahafo regional meeting. This motivated other districts to develop master plans, and led the Ahafo Regional Minister, Hon. George Yaw Boakye, to champion the approach and guide its replication. Over the next five years, the Ahafo Regional Council will support all six of its districts to develop master plans, bringing benefits to more than 500,000 people.
In the same year, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) began using a WASH planning toolkit developed with IRC Ghana. By embedding this toolkit in other national processes, they reached district leaders in half the country: 421 staff working in 130 districts across 14 regions.
The NDPC now understands the challenges and gaps in WASH planning and can use this to revise wider national development planning guidelines. IRC Ghana will continue to support NDPC to institutionalise the approach, with the aim of expanding master plans to all districts by 2026.
