WASH News West Africa
News feed maintained by information specialists from IRC and partners.
Sierra Leone: As Community Led Total Sanitation kicks off Open defecation in middle of Kenema City
04 Sep 08
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation Health Education Division has held a one day sensitization meeting with Paramount Chiefs, teachers and other opinion leaders in the eastern region at the Kenema District Council office along Maxwell Khobe Street in Kenema.The programme coordinator at the education division Samuel Sesay in his statement said the ministry is [...]
Burkina Faso: Association of Municipalities launches EUR 1.6 million rural WASH project
03 Sep 08
Burkina Faso’s Association of Municipalities - Association des municipalités du Burkina Faso (AMBF) - officially launched a programme to expand water and sanitation services in Bam, Kourweogo, and Mouhoun provinces. Funded to the tune of EUR 1.63 million by the NGO SOS Sahel International - Burkina Faso and its partners in France and Monaco, the [...]
Guinea-Bissau: people urged end to ritual sacrifices to stop cholera outbreak
25 Aug 08
Guinea-Bissau health officials are urging people to stop sacrificing animals at funerals to help beat a cholera outbreak that has [affected 2,400 people and] killed at least 59. On [18 and 19 August 2008] alone, 170 new cases were registered across [Guinea-Bissau], UNICEF said.The government has already banned the sale of doughnuts and vegetables as [...]
Benin: recurrent cholera still not a priority
14 Aug 08
At least 50 cholera cases have been recorded in Benin’s capital Cotonou since 24 July, according to local hospital officials.These cases have been reported in the capital’s eastern districts of Enagnon, Dedokpo, and Segbeya, neighbourhoods that lack clean drinking water, waste disposal services, and indoor plumbing.[...]The Benin government has renewed an education campaign on sanitation [...]
Ghana: Shared Latrine Facilities - Safe Or Unsafe?
14 Jul 08
“Ghanaian institutions believe that about 61% of the people have access to improved latrine facilities. However, international reports especially coming from the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) say it is only ten percent of the people”.[...]“A recent JMP report, “A Snapshot of Sanitation in Africa,” produced for the AfricaSan+5 International Conference on Sanitation held in [...]
Nigeria: FCT Draft Water Policy to Be Presented to Nass
14 Jul 08
“The Director of FCT Water Board, Engineer Jibril Ibrahim has said the FCT draft water policy and bill will soon be presented to the National Assembly for consideration.[...]Engineer Ibrahim said the policy done in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) is meant to provide FCT water Board with a new mandate, autonomy, improved [...]
Ghana: UNICEF and the European Commission work together to eradicate Guinea worm
12 Jul 08
“Ghana is second on the list of Guinea worm endemic countries. Until recently, the Savelugu-Nanton district of northern Ghana had the highest number of reported cases of the disease, which is contracted when a person drinks water contaminated with infected larvae.However, a shift in these statistics is now under way, following last year’s launch of [...]
Gunea-Bissau: Cholera epidemic reaches capital, Bissau
12 Jul 08
“Cholera which first broke out in Guinea Bissau in May in the southern region of Tombali has now broken out in the capital Bissau killing four people and infecting 214, according to Daniel Kertesz, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO).So far across the country 325 cases have been reported and twelve people have died.”[...]The [...]
Ghana: Millennium development goals beyond reach for Africa- says report
07 Jul 08
Presenting the findings of the Global Monitoring Report 2008: “MDGs and the Environment- Agenda Inclusive Sustainable Development” in Accra, an Economist of the World Bank, Punam Chuhan-Pole, noted that the aggregate picture of Sub-Saharan Africa hid the progress made in many African countries towards achieving the MDGs.(…) The report said Ghana ranked in the top [...]
Ghana - Hygiene on the timetable
07 Jul 08
Given the headache that sanitation currently presents for communities all over the country, it is surprising that emphasis is not being put on teaching sanitation and hygiene in schools to inculcate such habits in children at an early age – as used to be the practice in the past.People of a certain age still speak [...]
