Government expenditure for sustainable WASH services in Ghana : factsheet

The provision of support from national, regional and local government to water service providers in Ghana is not adequately budgeted for. The current operational budget of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), the governmental agency responsible for rural water in Ghana, is not enough to fulfill its roles and responsibilities as specified in the national norms and guidelines. The benchmark obtained by a CWSA led committee on the provision of support of US$ 0.54 per capita per to ensure sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services is much higher than current expenditure of CWSA on support of US$ 0.33 per capita per year observed by the WASHCost project. Increasing expenditure on support is essential to improve sustainable WASH services and reduce current rates of non-functionality of handpumps in Ghana of around 30%.