Country Ghana
Duration Start 1 January, 2012 till 31 December, 2016
Policy field(s) Local economic development
Inter-municipal co-operation
Institutional development
Water Management
Public policy and planning
Funding Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands
Objective: Better sanitation facilities for the population
Target group: 5 local governments and the national association of local government NALAG
Intended result: Local governments can develop and implement sanitation programmes
Activities: On-the-job coaching, training, benchmarking, platform meetings with the target group

Dirty public toilets, poor drainage and waste processing lead to the spread of disease. A large part of the Ghanaian population deals with this on a daily basis. Only 13 percent of the population has access to toilet facilities of an acceptable level. Local governments should play a central role in setting up and maintaining sustainable sanitation facilities. Unfortunately they are often not able to do so. The Ghanaian government recognises the problem of
the lack of good sanitation facilities and developed strategies for improvement. With the execution of these strategies at local level, a lot is again expected of local governments.

Sanitation services
The LGCP Ghana programme wants to contribute to the development of knowledge and experience with municipal sanitation services. The focus is on councillors and local council staff of 5 selected local governments and on the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG). In this manner the LGCP contributes to the goals of the Ghanaian government and complements the activities of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Accra, in the area of water and sanitation facilities.

Aim
The LGCP wants to enhance the capacity of 5 local governments in the area of sanitation facilities. The key point in the approach is cost control of the services and capacity building for the planning, budgeting, implementation and maintaining of the facilities. Alignment is sought with the District Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plans. There has been previous cooperation with the selected Ghanaian local governments. The new programme is based in part on the experience gained then, the network which was built up and the relationship of trust. Due to the involvement of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the national association of local government, it is possible to share the results and experience nationally and thus considerably increase the scope of the programme.

What do we want to achieve?
- Enhanced capacity of 5 local governments to develop District Environmental Sanitation Strategies and Action Plans and generate the necessary funds.
- Enhanced capacity of 5 local governments to implement those strategies and action plans, with permanent results.
- Enhanced capacity to monitor and assess the activities and learn from them.
- The 5 local governments and the national association have learned to closely involve interested external parties in the preparing and implementation of the local strategies and action plans for better sanitation facilities.