Sanitation puzzle in Ghana : the missing chips : paper prepared for the West Africa Regional Sanitation and Hygiene Symposium, 10-12 Nov 2009, Accra, Ghana

Very few countries in Sub–Saharan Africa are likely to meet their MDG targets for sanitation. The reasons are many and varied. Inaccurate data and the absence of national sanitation and hygiene policies, strategies and plans are to blame. The lack of political will has also been identified as a contributory factor. While these will take a while to address, a good analysis of the sector will be required to get the solutions on spot. Unknown to most actors is the negative outcomes of projects that do not pay attention to the socio-cultural and environmental factors that form the building blocks for hygiene education. Hygiene education is not considered at the start although it is the key to sustainable behaviour change and improved sanitation. To date, the central theme of any development agenda and consumer interests revolve around the ability to influence decision making and effect behaviour change through some important factors including; A good understanding of beneficiaries and their environment; economic, governance and likely effects on their actions including sanitation related issues; Appropriate design and monitoring of hygiene education. This paper presents, a review of WASH project outcomes including sector experiences from a selected group of sector actors in Ghana. It suggests there are missing pieces of hygiene education components that need to be found, assembled in the right places and in good time. This is urgent if Ghana is to close the yawning sanitation MDG gap at a sustainable pace. (authors abstract)