 The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) held its 2008 Annual Review Conference from Monday 23rd to Friday 27th March, 2009 at the Miklin Hotel in Kumasi.
Increasing access to potable water and sanitation is key to achieving health outcomes and sustained poverty reduction in Ghana. Consequently in 1994 the Government of Ghana formally launched the National Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP) to address the problems of providing potable water and improved sanitation facilities to rural communities and small towns. The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) has since been mandated by law (Act 564 of December 1998) to facilitate the delivery of safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities as well as hygiene promotion in the districts and rural communities. In facilitating the provision of water and sanitation facilities under the NCWSP, CWSA holds review conferences annually with its key stakeholders to assess the performance of the Agency towards achieving the objectives and goals of its mandate. The Review is also used to set new targets and to strategise towards improved performance to achieve the set targets. The 2008 Conference was on the theme: “Facilitation of the National Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP): Emerging Challenges and the Way Forward”. The provision of water and sanitation facilities especially to the deprived rural and peri-urban poor is very crucial to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the targets set in the government development agenda. In order to achieve the MDGs and meet the increasing demand for these facilities in our fast growing rural communities, there is the compelling need for CWSA to retool and reposition itself for effective corporate performance and accelerated delivery. The 2008 Conference addressed a number of thematic issues, prominent among which were the following: redefinition of the role of the CWSA in the current decentralization process , determination of the way forward in the change process, identifying of issues for the enactment of the necessary Legislative Instruments, identifying alternative sources of income within the mandate of Act 564 and establishment of a strategic integration of ICT within the operations of the National Community Water and Sanitation Programme. The Agency also reviewed challenges in its operations in year 2008 and strategise a way forward. The conference was attended by representatives of the Head Office and Regional Offices of the CWSA, the Ministries of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Local Government and Rural Development and Finance and Economic Planning, the State Enterprises Commission, Regional Coordinating Councils, District Assemblies and Communities, Coalition of NGOs as well as Project Advisors. It was opened by the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Honourable Albert Abongo. A Communiqué was issued and delivered at a Press Conference at the end of the four–day Conference. The Agency also launched its new corporate cloth during the Press Conference. |
