Mechanised water system for the Atonkor-Buem community

26 October 2023

Opening ceremony to celebrate the Atonkor-Buem community’s new mechanised water system.

Plan International Ghana has commissioned and handed over a mechanised water system to the Atonkor-Buem community in the Oti region.

The mechanised water system facility falls under Plan International Ghana’s Integrated Package for Sustainable Development (I-Padev) Project which has been rolled out in the Jasikan and West Mamprusi Municipalities. The commissioning and handing over of the mechanised water system facility ceremony coincided with the commemoration of the 2023 Global Handwashing Day which is a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap under running water as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.

Basic right to clean and safe water

Addressing the chief, elders, community members, and students at the commissioning and handing over ceremony, the municipal chief executive (MCE) for Jasikan Municipal Assembly, Madam Elizabeth Kessewaah Anim Adjornor highly commended the management of Plan International Ghana and the I-Padev Project team for choosing her municipality for the provision of a life-changing and life-enhancing project. She explained that the importance of the provision of clean and safe water for the community cannot be underestimated.

The MCE added that “The availability of clean and safely managed water both in terms of its quantity and quality stands as a cornerstone in its edifice of community development hence the establishment of this water facility by Plan International Ghana’s I-Padev project.” To her, the provision of the mechanised water system and other sanitary facilities forms part of the remarkable achievement by the municipality and its partners in their relentless effort to ensure that every resident in the Jasikan Municipality assembly has the fundamental right to assess clean and safe water.

Madam Anim Adjornor used the occasion to appeal to residents to adopt proper and regular handwashing practices in order to avoid contracting preventable diseases. She finally assured the providers of the mechanised water system of the municipality’s commitment to undertake good maintenance practices to ensure that the facility is used for a long time; and finally appealed to the management of Plan International Ghana to extend the project to cover the remaining communities in the municipality that are without clean and safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems.

“The availability of clean and safely managed water both in terms of its quantity and quality stands as a cornerstone in its edifice of community development hence the establishment of this water facility by Plan International Ghana’s I-Padev project.”

Madam Elizabeth Kessewaah Anim Adjornor

Consented effort to scale-up local hand hygiene practices

The country director of Plan International Ghana, Mr. Solomon TesfaMariam, reiterated the aim for the rolling out of the I-PADEV Project, saying the project seeks to contribute to creating a resilient and protective environment both at home and at school for better health and learning outcomes for children, especially girls through equitable access to and effective utilisation of WASH, early childhood care and development education, health facilities and services. Speaking on the theme “clean hands within reach” the country director called on all stakeholders to scale up hand-washing initiatives in order to achieve global and national targets.

According to him, achieving global and national hand washing targets does not only require individual hand hygiene behaviour, but a consented effort to create an enabling environment that supports the scale-up of hand hygiene within a local system. The country director of Plan International Ghana together with the I-Padev project manager presented some hand hygiene management equipment such as a Teckey tap, soaps, and tissue towels among others to schools, health facilities, and public places within the beneficiary communities.

The chief of Atonkor-Buem, Nana Asiedu Adjedu IV, who chaired the ceremony, thanked the Country Director of Plan International Ghana and the I-Padev Project team members for coming to the aid of the community. He also pledged to oversee the proper maintenance of the facility to ensure its sustainability.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights, Technology for development, Water and sanitation

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