Ghana can meet MDG target for drinking water

Ghana made significant progress in the provision of improved drinking water between 1990 and 2006. If the current rate of progress is sustained, the country can achieve its target of 78 % for the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for drinking water supply by 2015. Analyses of available data by the Water and Sanitation Sector Monitoring Platform (WSMP) show that there was a significant increase in the proportion of the population that used improved drinking water sources from 56% in 1990 to 74% in 2006. The WSMP analyses were based on official statistical data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) between 1990 and 2006 and interpretation of various MDG definitions. The GSS reports analyzed include the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS 1993, 1998, 2003), and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2006). Given the fact that 44% of the population did not use improved drinking water sources as at 1990, which is the base year for MDG performance monitoring, Ghana’s MDG target for 2015 is 78%. This target is calculated based on the interpretation of MDG target 7.c which is “to halve by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.” The indicator used to measure progress toward the target for drinking water, according to the Official MDG List (2008), is expressed as the ‘proportion of the population using an improved drinking water source.’ In 1990, the United Nations mandated the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to monitor and report on global progress on drinking water and basic sanitation. These United Nations (UN) agencies subsequently established the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) to implement this monitoring assignment. The JMP has worked very closely with various national statistics offices in a bid to harmonize survey data collection tools globally and also apply data that these offices generate in global reporting. This has made it easier to compare nations in terms of performance in the provision of drinking water and basic sanitation. To effectively monitor the sector, the JMP and the national statistics offices consider the following water delivery points as improved sources: household connection, public tap or standpipe, tube well or borehole, protected dug well and protected spring, as well as rainwater collection. It is assumed that water from these delivery sources is safe for drinking. All other sources are considered unimproved. In rural areas of Ghana, the use of improved drinking water sources increased from 39% in 1990 to 68% in 2006. Several factors might have contributed to this remarkable performance. Institutional reforms leading to the separation of rural and small town water supply from the functions of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the subsequent establishment of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) may be a significant contributing factor. Other factors may be increased donor and NGO interest in rural and small town interventions, which might have led to more supply of point sources. Decentralization with District Assemblies playing principal roles in the drinking water supply sector may also have contributed to the success. The percentage increase may also have been induced by the rapid rural-urban migration rates. The United Nations Population Division (2006 revision) has estimated that the proportion of Ghana’s rural population reduced from 64% in 1990 to 51% in 2006. The 2000 Population Census Report had indicated 56.2% as at 2000. With increased drinking water supply rates and declining rural population growth rates, access rates will likely show higher percentage figures. The proportion of the urban population using improved drinking water on the other hand, suffered a decline from 86% in 1990 to 79% in 2006. A few factors may have contributed to this: rapid urban population growth rates may have outstripped drinking water supply rates. According to the United Nations Population Division (2006 revision), urban population estimates for 1990 for Ghana was about 36% as against 49% in 2006. Facility maintenance and expansion work for urban water supply was also not adequate to meet the rising demand for drinking water. According to the National Water Policy document published in 2008, the rate of urbanization outstrips current levels of urban water supply, leaving a daily supply gap of more than 500,000 m3. According to the MICS 2006 report from the GSS, though 90% of the urban population is reported to be using improved drinking water sources, more than 11% relied on bottled or sachet water for drinking purposes mainly due to the lack of safe drinking water at home. A trend analysis made by the WSMP indicates that Ghana is likely to exceed its MDG target for drinking water by six percent if current efforts are sustained. According to the JMP (2008), this achievement has placed Ghana seventh among countries making the most rapid progress between 1990 and 2006 after Burkina Faso, Namibia, Malawi, Vietnam, Jordan, and Guatemala. Source: WSMP Ghana, March 2009