Year III - Third Quarter Report: Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene for Urban Poor (WASH-UP) Project

The project was initiated in October 2012 and is set to conclude in September 2016, with a total estimated federal funding of US$ 12,168,660. The program is implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through a partnership with the Global Communities organization. The project's geographic scope includes five regions in Ghana: Greater Accra, Western, Central, Northern, and Volta. The program targets urban poor communities in Accra Metropolitan Assembly, La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, and Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, with a focus on increasing household access to affordable, improved, and sustainable drinking water supply and improved sanitation facilities. In the third quarter of Year III (FY15), the project made significant progress in meeting its objectives. Twenty-one house/yard water connections were completed, resulting in a total of 238 house/yard connections completed to date, which provide safe water to 9,164 people in the urban project communities. Fifteen new family latrines were also completed, bringing the total number of family latrines delivered in project communities to 217, which provide access to basic sanitation for about 4,602 residents. The project also extended its geographic scope to rural and peri-urban communities in the Volta, Northern, Central, and Western Regions of Ghana. Borehole drilling activities started in selected rural communities, and construction of institutional KVIP latrines commenced in the Northern, Central, Volta, and Western Regions. Eighty-two facilitators were trained in Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) activities, and a workshop was held in each of the three regions to introduce CLTS to local government staff and local NGO staff. Cholera response activities were initiated in the latter part of the quarter as the resurgence of cholera loomed, with floods affecting most of the Greater Accra Region. The project's overall goal is to increase equitable access to improved water supply and basic sanitation for poor urban communities in Ghana by improving water supply and sanitation infrastructure, behavior, and governance. The project's objectives are to increase household access to affordable, improved, and sustainable drinking water supply, increase household access to improved and sustainable sanitation facilities, promote innovative economic enterprises in the area of water and sanitation, improve hygiene and sanitation behaviors among the urban poor, and strengthen local governance for water supply, sanitation service, and hygiene promotion. The project's implementation plan outlines specific activities to achieve these objectives, including expanding improved water supply coverage to communities and households, increasing household access to improved basic sanitation, promoting innovative economic enterprises, improving hygiene and sanitation behaviors, and strengthening local governance. The project's expected results include increasing household access to affordable, improved, and sustainable drinking water supply, increasing household access to improved and sustainable sanitation facilities, promoting innovative economic enterprises in the area of water and sanitation, improving hygiene and sanitation behaviors among the urban poor, and strengthening local governance for water supply, sanitation service, and hygiene promotion. The project's progress in the third quarter of Year III (FY15) demonstrates its commitment to achieving these objectives and improving the lives of poor urban communities in Ghana.