The government of Ghana has since the late eighties
pursued an ambitious decentralisation programme which
seeks to devolve all responsibilities for planning and implementation
of environmental sanitation schemes to the
provincial local governments (District Assemblies). The
decentralisation effort has been accompanied by a reform
of the water and sanitation sector with emphasis on decentralised
planning of water and sanitation projects, cost
recovery, community ownership and management and
increased private sector involvement in the delivery of
services. However, the general perception is that efforts at
improving sanitation have not been successful in ensuring
a sustained development of the sub-sector. Current policies
and strategies have failed to develop the required capacity
and ensure the mobilisation of resources for addressing the
enormous challenges within the sub-sector. Indeed the fast
rate of urbanisation and population growth has worsened
the situation over the years.
The WELL Resource Centre Network (RCN) is funded
by the UK Government’s Department for International
Development (DFID). The RCN provides service and resources
for DFID and its partner agencies. Within the
framework of WELL activities, TREND Group, a Resource
Centre located in Ghana and a partner within the WELL
Network, carried out a study of the sanitation sub-sector in
Ghana between May and August 2002, to highlight the
information and knowledge management gaps. This paper
presents a brief summary of findings, analysis and recommendations
