Ghana: Triple-S selects three district centres for piloting SDA

Ghana: Triple-S selects three district centres for piloting SDA

Triple-S Ghana has selected three regions as centres to pilot the service delivery approach (SDA) at district level.  Each centre will be involved in the application of an action research approach where the steps for implementation of SDA for effective  sustainable water service delivery will be documented for replication in other parts of the country.

Each of the regional centres has chosen one focal district where the approach will be implemented. The centres and their selected districts are: Volta Region (Akatsi District); Brong Ahafo Region (Sunyani West district); Northern Region (Gonja East district).

Leveraging with other projects

The regions were selected to reflect the different social cultural dynamics of water service provision in Ghana and the opportunity to leverage through partnership with initiatives as the World Banks’ Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project, CIDA’s Northern Region Small Towns Project (NORST) and the IRC WASHCost project.

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), which is the host agency for Triple-S initiative in Ghana, will partner the selected districts with three main objectives:

  • Develop and test innovative elements within SDA framework
  • Increase learning and adaptive capacity of regional and district service authorities/providers
  • Document processes and steps for developing and implementing SDA in practice

A concept note for piloting the service delivery approach has been developed in consultation with key stakeholders in the water sector in Ghana.

Community Water and Sanitation Agency in the lead

To begin the piloting process, the Triple-S Project has undertaken visits to the regional centres to orient staff on the SDA, including introducing a learning alliance approach at the regional level .The visits were undertaken jointly with IRC Country Office and WASHCost under the leadership of CWSA Head office.

Speaking at the Volta Regional interaction, the Regional Director of CWSA, Naa Yelkuma Dogoli Bagah II said that CWSA staff will be the vehicle for mainstreaming the SDA in Ghana since the Triple-S project is addressing a gap within the water sector. Naa Bagah II entreated CWSA staff to begin thinking of how to achieve the paradigm shift in their approach to rural water service delivery.

The recurrent theme in each of the regions was a desire to go beyond providing water facilities to improving water services. The staff expressed the cautious optimism to see how the Service Delivery Approach will facilitate their ability to do this.

Devine Dugbatey, Water and Sanitation Engineer and Assistant Regional Director of the  Brong Ahafo Region, spoke for many when he said: “This is a brilliant idea, let’s put our hearts into it and make it work .There must be a systematic approach to providing the water supply, beyond funding.”-

The Triple-S Initiative began in 2009 in Ghana.The first year of operation was devoted to heightening awareness for the sustainability challenge by making a compelling case for a change in the approach to delivering water services. This has yielded positive results, evident in the level of enthusiasm and commitment by government, development partners and NGO’s to support the process in Ghana.

There is enough indication that the project will continue to count on government leadership in this new phase of implementation. In a message sent to the regional offices, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of CWSA, Mr. Clement Bugase, said: “CWSA is making a paradigm shift in its approach to rural water supply from a focus on projects to delivery of services. This objective is being pursued in partnership with the Triple-S initiative. It is expected that results/innovations from the piloting will inform the adaptation of policies and practices for delivering water services in Ghana. The success of the initiative in Ghana will depend on how well we fare in the respective regions. I am therefore counting on your usual cooperation and rich experiences to make this a success.”

 Source: Sustainable services at scale.