About 138 communities in the Upper West Region have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) bringing the total number to 674.
All the 88 communities in the Nandom District are Open Defecation Free while 156 out of 227 communities in the Wa West District are also are ODF. Nadowli has 103 of its 141 communities while 78 out of 105 communities in the Daffiama Bussie Issa are also Open Defecation Free.
The rest are Lawra Municipal, 71 out of 94; Wa East District 48 out of 138; Lambussie District 45 out of 58; Jirapa Municipal 37 out of 116; Sissala West District 31 out of 55; Sissala East 10 out of 59; and Wa Municipal Seven out of 86 communities are Open Defecation Free.
The Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, Municipal and District Assemblies as well as other stakeholders and partners in the sanitation sector have set 2021 for the Region to attain an Open Defecation Free status ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals target of 2030.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the Upper West Regional Environmental Health and Sanitation Department, Alhassan Inusah Agambire, said the achievement within the period is not encouraging and attributed it to the indifferent attitude of some communities to sanitation issues.
He added that even though rains have set in, it cannot be a justification for the poor results of the Open Defecation Free campaign.
Mr Agambire noted that funding is not a problem but some communities are not complying.
He however said the department is not relenting on its efforts to ensure that the Region attains an Open Defecation Free status by 2021, and appealed to the communities to embrace the community led total sanitation concept and to refrain from defecating in the open.
