Conrad N. Hilton Foundation backs innovative Ghanaian approach to provision of WASH services

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation backs innovative Ghanaian approach to provision of WASH services

ACCRA, 21 March 2014, IRC – The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has awarded US$ 3 million to IRC – a leading champion of universal access to safe water services. The aim of the investment is to ensure that over the next three years, 1.3 million people in 13 rural districts in Ghana will have access to lasting water services. 

The grant provides significant backing to IRC’s groundbreaking work with the Ghanaian government to bring together a wide range of national and local partners to create viable, lasting water services. This approach has focussed on building government’s ability to deliver and maintain water services and contrasts to more
conventional charity-based solutions that primarily focus on the installation of hardware. The aim of this work has been to tackle a chronic waste of resources and money globally in the WASH sector: around the world approximately one third of rural water systems don’t work as a result of short-term and piecemeal
interventions at the cost of long-term service solutions.

“IRC is hugely excited to be partnering with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. IRC believes strongly that strengthening the ability of governments to lead the provision of services is not only the best route to scale, but the only viable exit strategy for charitable giving. By supporting our work in Ghana the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is giving strong support to the achievement of our vision of providing everyone in Ghana with water services that will last forever.” - Vida Duti, IRC Ghana Director.

The award is announced at a special World Water Day meeting in Accra, Ghana, with the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and the Community Water & Sanitation Agency. Steven M. Hilton, Chairman, President & CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, comments on the award:
“We have been working with our partners in Ghana to increase access to safe water for more than 20 years. We’re teaming up with IRC to build on our experience and focus on improving how water systems are managed. This grant will help contribute towards providing reliable safe water into the future.”

Speaking about the award, Chief Executive of CWSA, Mr. Clement Bugase, commented “the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, through our work with IRC have put the rural water sub-sector on a path of delivering sustainable water services. The grant from Hilton Foundation will enable us scale-up results of the innovations from the Triple-S work to more districts , work closely with the Hilton Grantees and to further strengthen the enabling structures to improve the quality of water services.”

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