A year’s Integrated Hygiene Behaviour Change Campaign aimed at ensuring safety at market places and ‘fighting’ stigmatization against COVID-19 survivors through mass media has been outdoored in Accra on Thursday.

Good hygiene practices and the observation of safety protocols remain some of the most effective ways to prevent COVID-19 infections. In recognition of this, the Mastercard Foundation and WaterAid Ghana (WAG) have announced the launch of a campaign to promote good hygiene in public places, including markets and bus terminals in several districts in the country

Ghana's development aspirations are aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 6, which ensures the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, is a challenge since in 2017 19% of the population did not yet have access to at least a basic level of water services and only 36% were using safely managed water accessible on the premises. Almost one in five (18%) of the population was still practising open defecation. Service sustainability has been further challenged by the large number of non-functional water systems.

The big climate change summit was due to be held in Glasgow, Scotland later this year but then COVID-19 came along, the conference centre was converted into a field hospital and the meeting was postponed. We will have to wait until November 2021 for the global community to make progress and agree on solutions to the climate crisis through that platform. But while we have to wait another year for stronger multi-lateral action, there are, as we discussed in our last Amplify, parallels in tackling COVID-19 and climate change and lessons to learn. All the current pain, stress and extra work in tackling COVID-19 may yet serve us well in adapting to the even bigger threat that is climate change.

National Development Planning Commission - NDPC in collaboration with IRC and partners is disseminating the findings and is further engaging relevant stakeholders on the stories starting with the launch of the Good Practice for WASH in Ghana booklet

COVID-19 and #BlackLivesMatter are a wake-up call for leaders to take a closer look at WASH knowledge generation.

The impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented on all areas of peoples lives globally, on a scale barely imagined only a few months ago. From the ever growing infection rates and death toll as the virus travelled around the world, to the light it shined on the huge disparities of impact on different populations as, on the one hand, day labourers struggled to feed themselves and their families whilst in lock-down with no resources, whilst others hoarded toilet paper...

One innovation in Asutifi North has been the introduction of kiosks at water points where vendors sell a range of sanitation products. The kiosks not only provide shelter from the sun and rain but improve the livelihoods of water vendors and help to make water systems more sustainable.

Vivian Kumah has been the lead nurse in charge of the community health planning and service centre at Gambia No 1 for about four and half years – and getting water had been a problem for almost the whole of that time.

Some of the cleanest and smartest toilets in the whole Bongo district are found at Foe Community Health and Planning Services (CHPS). This community health post serves more than 2,280 people in four communities across an area stretching up to the border with Burkina Faso.