Simple Innovation Helps Rural Communities in Ghana Improve Latrine Construction & Sanitation
By Megan Bohan The Ghana Enhancing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (EN-WASH) Activity aims to increase the use of sustainable, equitable, quality and district-wide WASH services in communities and health care facilities. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Global Communities, EN-WASH also addresses the adoption of sustainable WASH practices…
Read MoreProtecting Ghana from the Spread of COVID-19, One Community at a Time
By Emefa Baidoo and Senam Ntow Like many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana was not prepared to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a population of more than 31 million people and just one hospital bed per 1,000 individuals, its already overburdened health system and infrastructure nearly shattered. In addition, urban-rural disparities continue for…
Read MoreWorking to End Period Shame and Poverty in Parts of Africa
Lack of education on menstrual hygiene and health, persisting taboos and stigma, limited access to menstrual products and poor sanitation facilities undermines the educational opportunities, health and overall social status of women and girls around the world. As a result, millions are kept from reaching their full potential. In recognition of Menstrual Hygiene Day, learn…
Read MoreThe Role of WASH in Sustaining Maternal Health During Delivery: Reflections from Global Communities WASH for Health Program, Ghana
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) play a foundational role in improving maternal health outcomes during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum.
Read MoreKalba Community Benefits from the USAID Small Town Water System Approach
Traditional community-based rural water systems with their shallow wells and handpumps often do not provide sustainable water services. Pumps often break down and wells dry up; alternative water sources are frequently contaminated. This was the situation in Kalba, Ghana, a farming community with about 4,500 residents in 520 households. Kalba had ten shallow wells (boreholes),…
Read MoreGlobal Communities Commissions Two Small Town Water Systems at Kalba and Tinjaase in Commemoration of World Water Day
Global Communities, under the USAID-funded Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Health project has commissioned two Small Town Water Systems in Kalba and Tinjase in commemoration of the upcoming World Water Day. in the Savannah and Oti Regions. The Small Town Water Systems construction is part of a larger plan to provide potable water access…
Read More‘Global Community’ Provides Water for Tinjase Community
This article was originally published by GhanaWeb Global Communities, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has handed over a potable water system for the community of Tinjase, an expanding settlement near the Ghana-Togo border in the Nkwanta North District of the Oti Region. The small town water supply system, the first of its kind in the community,…
Read MoreKalba Community Gets Potable Water
This article was originally published on GhanaWeb A water system has been inaugurated at Kalba in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region to extend potable water to the people of the area and beyond. The gesture is part of an overall community support scheme to amongst others ensure improved hygienic behaviours. The water system…
Read MoreA Household Gets A Veronica Bucket After Handwashing Sensitization In School
The WASH for Health (W4H) project has been promoting handwashing as a key hygiene behaviour among Ghanaian households and basic school students since its inception in 2015. Increasingly, handwashing has become the new normal lifestyle in Ghana and beyond, primarily as a result of efforts to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization…
Read MoreImproving WASH in Health Care Facilities
In Ghana, one place apart from home to feel cared for is a Health Care Facility (HCF). Not only are the health personnel professional, but most importantly, the health care institution must have functional Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities including toilet facilities, handwashing stations and clean drinking water stations. Unfortunately, the Ghana Joint…
Read MoreEffective Health Care Delivery Made Easier for Nine Health Care Facilities with Provision of Water
“At about 12 midnight in June 2019, a baby boy was born to a young couple at the Tutukpene Health Center in the Oti Region. Unfortunately, there was no water to wash the mixture of blood and amniotic fluid off the baby and the equipment used for the delivery. Relatives of the newborn’s mother had…
Read MoreGhana Cholera Response
Tapped to lead coordination for USAID-funded projects and affiliated NGOs to respond to Ghana’s rapidly expanding cholera outbreak in 2014, Global Communities convened over a dozen international NGOs in less than 48 hours to assess needs and determine response activities. Using our GIS capacity, we worked with the group to map all eight affected regions…
Read MoreGlobal Communities Ghana Supports #EachforEqual
By Christy Beauchemin #EachforEqual #IWD2020 International Women’s Day (IWD) was first celebrated over 100 years ago. Today, it is a global movement as well as a call to action. This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #EachforEqual. It is a reminder that we all have a role in fighting gender inequality and that if each…
Read MoreGeorgetown University Intern – My Summer Internship: Finding a Direction
On a field visit in Tuna, Northern Region of Ghana to assess their new piped water system. This is a pilot project to provide sustainable water services to rural communities. By Jack Borkowski. This blog was originally posted on the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service website. Jack Borkowski, Class of 2020, did his…
Read MoreGlobal Communities Ghana Celebrates Global Handwashing Day 2019
Earlier today, two of the USAID WASH for Health project’s Behaviour Change Communication experts (Edward Thompson and Martha Tia-Adjei) were engaged on TV3 and 3Fm’s morning shows (both under Media General, a leading Ghanaian private media house) to educate Ghanaians on the importance of handwashing, as today marks the Global Handwashing Day. Global Communities, in…
Read MoreGlobal Communities Celebrates International Day of the Girl 2019
By Sarah Goddard #DayoftheGirl #GenerationEquality #unstoppable Twenty-five years ago, the World Conference on Women in Beijing marked a significant turning point for global gender equality with the recognition of the rights of women and girls as human rights. Today, there are movements to stop child marriage and gender-based violence, promote girls’ education, and end stigma…
Read MoreU.S. Partnerships with Women Promote Economic Growth in Northern Ghana
This article was originally published on the US Embassy of Ghana Website Tamale, GHANA— Since 2014, over 96,000 women in northern Ghana saved USD $7.8 million – or about 42,659,747 cedis – and invested the money to improve the health, education, nutrition, and economic opportunities of their families. Last year, Nanumba North received 98% in…
Read MoreDo As Your Neighbors Do – Save Money
Watching their neighbors setting up small businesses as an outcome of Village Savings and Loans Associations, these women decided they, too, would like to use this tool to overcome poverty and diversify incomes. This is the last part of the four-part series. You can read the beginning here, the second part here and the third part here. Pathways to…
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