Environmental Sanitation Policy (Revised 2009).

This Environmental Sanitation Policy is a sectoral nationwide document that updates the first policy published in 1999 with the following purposes (i) to update its scope to meet current development objectives; (ii) to address aspirations of sector actors; (iii) to re-examine and deal more effectively with the issues that have led to the persisting underlying causes of poor environmental sanitation and its vital link to health; and (iv) to consider the changing context of national and international development priorities. The overall goal of the Environmental Sanitation Policy is to develop a clear and nationally accepted vision of environmental sanitation as an essential social service and a major determinant for improving health and quality of life in Ghana. To provide a clearer strategic framework for achieving the overall goal of the sector, this policy provides strategic elements under seven policy focus areas, namely (1) Capacity Development to cover all issues of institutional development including human resource and institutional strengthening; (2) Information, Education and Communication, since meaningful participation by citizens depends on how effective education and communication processes are; (3) Legislation and Regulation to regulate activities involving a wide range of actors with different levels of responsibilities; (4) Levels of Service, appropriately designed to suit the demand of different population groups, typically rural, small towns and urban, as well as specialized target groups such as industries, commercial areas and the urban poor; (5) Sustainable Financing and Cost recovery to cover expenses of environmental sanitation facilities and their continued maintenance and use; (6) Research and Development to improve and adapt appropriate technologies and modern techniques for change-management; and (7) Monitoring and Evaluation to appraise and assess progress in policy implementation, the effectiveness of policy actions in responding to changing life styles, behavior and attitudes as well as demand for improved services.
To make agriculture more productive and sustainable, intervention at sanitation level aim basically to protect water resources by (i) raising awareness of the importance (functions and benefits) of wet lands and water courses; (ii) instituting regulatory mechanisms that safeguard wetlands and water courses; (iii) safeguarding groundwater from contamination due to poor environmental sanitation practices; (iv) enforcing existing statutes and regulations on prevention of pollution of groundwater sources; and (v) ensuring adequate systems for managing wastewater treatment, re-use and disposal.
Rural poverty reduction, with regard to environmental sanitation conditions, it is addressed with (i) support for research on appropriate technologies to meet the needs of all segments of society, especially vulnerable and poor people; (ii) assessments carried out to determine effective demand of communities (urban, small towns and rural) for environmental infrastructure; (iii) support for studies on alternative technology options for improving services to low-income urban areas, small towns and rural areas.
In order to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Policy proposes (i) an effective community participation in the siting of environmental sanitation facilities through the development of participatory tools for identification and selection of sites and ensuring the involvement of traditional authorities and the consideration of diversity of religious beliefs and cultural practices at all levels; (ii) increased awareness of the benefits of improved environmental sanitation especially as related to health, food hygiene and general environment; (iii) ensuring that services meet the needs of specific target groups including vulnerable people, women and children and the poor; and (iv) acquisition of appropriate sites for treatment and disposal facilities (landfills, composting facilities, waste stabilization ponds, trickling filters, etc.) using participatory principles.
As for the Governance, interventions are needed to strengthen coordination and collaboration among sector institutions and, during the monitoring and evaluation phases, to develop framework at all levels within the sector, strengthen capacity to its implementation, and develop a responsive reporting and feedback mechanism.