Tamale, Ghana 27 July 2021—Residents of Ward K community in northern Ghana Tuesday received two hand washing stations and two water tanks through a United Nations initiative, a move that increases their odds in the war against Covid-19.

The jubilant residents, led by their local assembly representative Salim Abubakari pledged to take good care of the facilities. Speaking on behalf of Ward K women, Ms. Kassim Sanatu said the easier access to potable water was a relief to the women who had to travel long distances in search of the commodity.

According to Covid-19 Data Repository by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, Ghana has so far registered 102,000 cases with 823 deaths and 96, 759 recoveries.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, the acting UN Resident Coordinator Niyi Ojuolupe asked the residents to safeguard the facilities. “These facilities are going to add value to your community. They are life savers and should be well taken care of,” he said.

The Covid-19 response is part of the USD 16 million WASH in Disaster Prone Communities (DPC) which was implemented in five zones in northern Ghana. With the support from the Canadian government, the WASH in DPC targeted 265 communities with a 100% access rate to resilient and flood prone water supply infrastructure. Some 200,000 people benefited from the three-year project.

This ground-breaking project brought together UN-Habitat (as the lead agency), UNICEF, World Health Organisation (WHO), UNDP with the office of the Resident Coordinator providing overall guidance and leadership for the project.

On behalf of the donor, Eric Chimsi of the Canadian High Commission said the project was part of Government of Canada’s entire WAH projects in Ghana. “The common characteristic in the targeted communities is that they are floods prone and we know that unless urgent interventions are made, the flooding and soil erosion trends will continue,” he said.

The handing over was part of the close out event for the WASH in DPC which was also marked by a tour by local and international journalists to the project areas.

In a panel interview with journalists earlier, speakers agreed that it was now up to the Ghanaian government to pickup from where the project had left and provide similar services to other areas of the country.