Ghana
Capital:
Accra
Population:
29 million
Area:
238,535
km2

The COVID-19 pandemic requires a global response. With 5.5 million people still without access to clean water in Ghana, our work takes on an even higher sense of urgency. 

Without access to clean water, people are unable to wash their hands and protect themselves against the spread of COVID-19.

See WaterAid Ghana's Facebook page for updates on our activities in response to COVID-19 in Ghana.

Our global response to COVID-19

Its cocoa flavours the world’s chocolate, its minerals create the smart technology we use every day, and its coloured fabrics turn heads everywhere. Ghana is one of Africa’s most vibrant nations.

With a national action plan, the Government is aiming to make Ghana a developed country by 2029. To do so, every Ghanaian needs water, toilet and hygiene services, and today eight in ten have clean water – proof that change is possible.

But a lot of work still needs to be done. In towns and cities, only one in five people have a decent toilet. In the countryside, this figure drops to just one in ten people.

Going to the toilet in the open is a major contributor to diseases like cholera, which swept through the country in 2014 during a devastating flash flood, affecting 30,000 people. 

people don't have a decent toilet.

That's over 4 in 5 people.

people don't have clean water.

Nearly 1 in 5 of the population.

children under 5 die each year from diarrhoea.

Caused by dirty water and poor toilets.

What does WaterAid do in Ghana?

As Ghana continues to grow, we are helping communities and local government put long-term solutions in place that can withstand climate change and natural disasters. And we are identifying ways of financing water and sanitation services through the country's natural resources.

Together we can make turning on a tap or closing a toilet door a normal part of daily life for all Ghanaians. Small actions that can help unlock potential and change lives for good.

Kiosks for clean water

WaterAid/Nyani Quarmyne/Panos
I’m happy because when the water comes we will be cleaner every day; we will not fall sick. Everyone is happy about it.
Zuwera Abdul Latif - Kakpayili-Shizugu

Zuwera Abdul Latif, 22, stands in front of the water kiosk we are helping to build in Kakpayili-Shizugu. It looks quite simple, just concrete and steel, but soon it will change normal daily life for her and her community.

Currently, Zuwera has to risk her health. “I go to the dam to fetch water. In a day I can go four times. The water is awful. it is green and you see insects in it." With no clean water source in the area, she would travel to the dam even when she was pregnant.

But the new kiosk will sell water at a price that's affordable for the entire community. All the revenue will go towards maintaining the new clean water supply for the long-term.

It will mean safer water closer to home for Zuwera and her newborn daughter. “I’m happy because when the water comes we will be cleaner every day," she says. "We will not fall sick. Everyone is happy about it."

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