By Edith Atiaka Eshun
Stakeholders in the water services sector have been urged to invest financially and with other resources in scaling up small water enterprises to complement the Government’s efforts at delivering safely managed water services to Ghanaians.
This, according to the Country Director of Safe Water Network, Charles Nimako, will accelerate efforts at delivering improved water services, especially in rural and peri-urban communities by 2030, in fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goal Six. Mr. Nimako made the call at the 2023 Safe Water Network Beyond the Pipe Forum in Accra.
The forum which was under the theme; Setting the Stage for Growing Small Water Enterprises in Ghana, brought together leaders from both the public and private sectors and development partners to dialogue on how to advance the scale-up of small water enterprises, SWEs, to deliver safely managed water access for an estimated three-point-two million people in over one thousand peri-urban communities and small towns in Ghana by 2030.
Safe Water Network is an international non-profit organization which leverages best practices, tools and expertise across hundreds of communities to improve the performance of community-based safe water solutions with public, private and NGO partners. The conference was the 9th edition in a series of annual dialogue, meant to bring together players in the water sector to deliberate on key policy issues affecting the water sector.
Speaking to GBC-News, the Board Chairman of the Water Resources Commission, Mintah Aboagye highlighted the need for public-private partnerships in Ghana’s effort at increasing access to clean and potable water, especially in small towns and rural communities.
The Country Director of the Safe Water Network, Charles Nimako stressed the importance of scaling up small water enterprises so they can complement the government’s efforts for achieving sustainable access to water for all.
Safe Water Network has so far implemented community-based water solutions across 36 Districts in 10 Regions of Ghana, benefiting 147 communities. Over 460,000 people across these communities have been served with safe and reliable water through cutting-edge solutions and innovations by the organization.
The 2023 Beyond the Pipe Forum was sponsored by the Conrad N Hilton Foundation, the Stone Family Foundation, 4WARD Development West Africa, Interplast, Grundfos and Easywater for Everyone.