Quarterly Report: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Health Project April – June 2015

The project will be implemented in 5 regions of Ghana (Greater Accra, Central, Western, Volta and Northern). The goal of the project is to accelerate sustainable improvement in water and sanitation access and improve hygiene behaviors in target districts. This goal will be achieved through six mutually-reinforcing objectives, also referred to as components, which translate into the project components and action areas. Global Communities is the overall lead agency responsible for project management and administration, as well as for implementation of WASH infrastructure development including the implementation of Community Led Total Sanitation as the main approach for use of improved sanitation facilities at the household level within project communities. The Manoff Group Inc., a sub-recipient to Global Communities on this project, will lead the Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) interventions under the project. The project will be implemented in close collaboration with other United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded health-related projects. Within the project start-up period (March-June 2015), key stakeholders at the national level were informed of the awarding of the project to Global Communities. Among these stakeholders are key sector ministries of Ghana, such as the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH), the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Ministry of Health (MOH), and the five Regional Ministers within the geographic scope of the project. Regional stakeholder/project inception meetings are being planned for July and August 2015 to facilitate in-depth interaction between selected districts in the five regions of project intervention. The WASH for Health Project was developed in response to the health effects of inadequate or nonexistent improved water, sanitation, and hygiene services on people across Ghana. Generally, Ghanaian water supply coverage is high, at 85%, but within this huge figure exist marked geographic disparities. Districts in the Northern, Central, and Volta Regions are among the poorly served in terms of potable water coverage, averaging about 65%. In regard to sanitation, virtually all regions are faring very badly, though it is more pronounced in the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West Regions with nearly 75% of all households lacking access to safe sanitation and practicing open defecation. The goals of the WASH for Health Project are to accelerate sustainable improvement in water and sanitation access and to improve hygiene behaviors in target districts. These goals will be achieved through six mutually-reinforcing objectives, which are referred to as components: 1) Increase use of improved household sanitation, 2) Improve community water supply services, 3) Improve sector governance and policies, 4) Expand key hygiene behaviors, 5) Leverage PPP investment to magnify the impact of United States Government funding, and 6) Improve water supply and sanitation infrastructure for schools and health facilities. Global Communities is responsible for project management and administration, as well as for implementation of water and sanitation infrastructure development and Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). The Manoff Group will lead the Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) interventions under the project. Procurement of project logistics and equipment are ongoing to facilitate the smooth implementation of project activities. With an Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi-based office running, and with the Northern Region office opened and resourced, attention is now focused on opening an office in Ho to oversee implementation of project activities in the Volta region. The project will be implemented in close collaboration with other USAID-funded health-related projects, including Strengthening Partnerships, Results and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING), Resiliency in Northern Ghana (RING), Systems for Health, Communicate for Health and Evaluate for Health. The project will also collaborate with USAID Global Development Alliance partners, including Rotary International and Coca-Cola. All key project staff have been recruited and are at post to help in the smooth takeoff of WASH for Health.