Building synergies to impact water and sanitation outcomes (GHST0002)

Commitment ID

GHST0002

Commitment Title

Building synergies to impact water and sanitation outcomes

Problem

As the 3rd largest city in Ghana, Sekondi-Takoradi records an average of 88,000 people annually, mostly residents in underserved communities, with sanitation-related illnesses. This situation results in loss of productivity; affecting household incomes and the local economy. Poor enforcement of sanitation bye-laws further compounds the situation. Available data also indicated that majority of new-infections from CoVID-19 were inhabitants of informal settlements; where there is over-reliance on public sanitary facilities and high-incidences of open defecation. A situation that made adhering to mundane protocols like handwashing, physical distancing and self-isolation; an unattainable luxury for most, in the peak of the pandemic. Similarly, the 2020 District League Table indicated that 33,127 (13.5%) inhabitants of the Metropolis lack access to dignified sanitary facilities. This is higher than the regional average of 2.6% reported in the 2021 Population and Housing Census’ General Report on Water and Sanitation. As a result, open defecation and improper disposal of liquid waste remains a perennial challenge that confronts the city. This is evidenced by various legal action against offenders of STMA’s bye-law on sanitation and the Metropolis’ poor placement on the District League Table, which measured sanitation sub-indicators like proportion of population with access to improved sanitation services and percentage of schools with toilet facilities, among others.

Status quo

The National Environmental Sanitation Policy and the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) mandates all local authorities, including STMA, to develop and enforce by-laws that require landlords/property owners to provide household toilets and impose penalties for non-compliance; sanitation outcomes in poor and informal settlements largely remain unchanged. However, enforcement of these by-laws has mainly been targeted at residents who flout regulations against open defecation, due to barriers to toilet construction by landlords and property owners. These barriers include financial constraints, lack of technical support, lack of awareness of by-laws and associated penalties, multiple absentee landlords, and low prioritization of sanitary facilities by tenants. Factors influencing the non-enforcement of by-laws by the local authority include limited funding, lack of incentives for Environmental Health Officers (EHOs), logistical constraints, as well as delays in the enforcement process (legal).

Although a new model of collaboration between the local authority and landlords exists on paper, it has not been fully implemented and evaluated to ascertain its suitability in impacting sanitation by-law compliance in increasing access to household toilet coverage. However, the model did not explore a strategy to achieve a voluntary compliance equilibrium through negotiation between the local authority and landlords to arrive at a consensus by-law enforcement approach.

Action

Description:
- Through consultative meetings with stakeholders (local authorities, landlords/property owners/residents’ associations, CSOs in WASH, and local financial institutions) the new model of collaboration would be reviewed to solicit for new inputs to inform implementation. This constructive engagement would also explore agreements between parties related to by-law enforcement and compliance type, overcoming financial constraints to household toilet construction, and improving awareness of the sanitation by-laws.

Expected Results:
- Strengthened Collaboration in Local Sanitation Policy Formulation and Implementation

Overall Objective:
- To enhance consensus building in sanitation by-law enforcement to expand household and institutional toilet coverage by 50% in poor informal settlements by 2024.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

Expected Outputs:

1. Stakeholder Consultative meetings to review the sanitation model and build consensus on issues around:
- By-law Enforcement – design of a flexible enforcement and voluntary compliance approach;
- Financial Constraints to Household Toilet Construction – test funding mechanism through a combination of full and partial subsidies to support landlords with household toilet provision, and enhance access to commercial WASH funding for household toilet provision;
2. A publicly-accessible sanitation registry compiled
3. A robust 5-year strategy and action plan to improve water and sanitation management through a multi-stakeholder engagement process developed
4. Construct 500 household toilets in poor and open defecation-prevalent communities using new funding mechanisms.
5. Intensified WASH and Sanitation By-Law awareness campaigns in collaboration with landlords and other identified stakeholders organized.

Expected Outcomes:

1. Increased stakeholder consensus building in sanitation by-law compliance
2. Expanded access to improved household toilet facilities
3. Percentage change in reported cases of open defecation and sanitation-related illnesses.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

The commitment aligns with STMA’s OGP vision that espouses a long-term desire to co-create and implement local policy interventions that hinge on trust building with citizens, and enduring partnership with civil society and other stakeholders towards creating a safe and equitable city for all.

Primary Policy Area

Civic Space, Inclusion

Primary Sector

Environment & Climate, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?