World Vision, Ghana, has reaffirmed its commitment to ending open defecation in its operational areas by 2020.
It was estimated in 2017 that Ghana loses an average of $79 million annually due to open defecation and is classified among 34 countries with the highest open defecation rates of 15% and above.
Nineteen per cent of the total population practices open defection daily translating into one out of every five people practising it.
Yaw Attah Arhin, the WASH Technical Coordinator at the Non- Governmental Christian Organization told Starr News the menace is a threat to national development and well-being of Ghanaians thus the need to bring children on board to help address the menace.
“We have declared operation 2020. Meaning we want to end open defecation by 2020 and we know that beyond our operational areas, open defecation also persists in other areas. So this is essentially, to mobilize a critical mass of people who are passionate about ending open defecation so we have identified children as our change agents,” Arhin stated.
He made this known in Koforidua when 12 winners of the NGO’s Cartoon Campaign against open defecation in the Eastern Region were awarded cash prizes, branded exercise books and stationery, as well as literature on sanitation.
Pupils took part in the reading and answering of questions on comics centred on open defecation run within 12 weeks in the Junior Graphic newspaper.
The winners were from Pentecost Preparatory School-Koforidua, Benaga Star Academy and St. Dominic Primary School, all in the Eastern Region.
According to Arhin, the next face will encourage school children to initiate a project aimed at tackling open defecation.
Some of the awardees recounted how the reading contest on open defecation has enlightened their knowledge on the subject, awakening their senses of awareness and their roles in eliminating the menace.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kojo Ansah
