WASH (WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE)

COMMUNITY WATER SUPPLY PROJECT (ONGOING)

People die needlessly because of the lack of clean water, poor sanitation and poor hygiene. KJM Foundation gets water to the hardest-to-reach communities that are in dire need of it. We are among the topmost providers of clean water to remote villages in Ghana.

Clean water, proper sanitation and good hygiene are essential for the survival and development of children. Today, 48 million people still lack a basic level of drinking water service, 779 million people lack basic sanitation services and 839 million still lack basic hygiene services. Children are always the most affected, 85,700 children who are under 15 years die from diarrhoea linked to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and 72,000 under-five-year-olds die annually from similar illnesses linked to WASH-access problems.

Clean water, good sanitation and hygiene are needed in every sector. For the father and sons working in the farm, access to a reliable water source is needed. For the mother and daughter, water for cooking, house chores and personal hygiene is needed. For the girl student, access to clean water could be the determining factor of her attendance to school. For instance, girls miss lessons because there are no toilets or because they have to fetch water. Girls also struggle to manage menstrual hygiene and miss class during menstruation, if their schools do not have suitable water and sanitation facilities.

As the UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier, puts it, “Equitable access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene is not only the foundation of health and development for children and communities. Water is life, water is development, water is peace”.

As climate change puts additional pressure on resources, we need climate risk-sensitive and resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services for children and their communities. KJM Foundation provides clean water through borehole construction in remote villages because boreholes have been proven to be largely resistant to climate changes such as drought. We continue to monitor and seek sustainable ways of providing clean water to remote villages.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND WASTE MANAGEMENT PROJECT (UPCOMING)

The foundation has identified areas along the coastal areas of Ghana to help reduce poor disposal of environmental waste that is harmful to the environment. This involves conducting assessments in order to reduce waste and reuse materials for recycling purposes. This will not only save the environment but improve sanitation around beaches in Accra, promote tourism and serve as an additional source of revenue for the nation. We aim to partner with organisations to ensure a sustainable and responsible disposal and recycling process.

According to research by Citizen Science, an estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into the ocean every year, and Ghana generates approximately 1.1 million tonnes of plastics per year. In 2020 alone, more than 152 million plastic items were found along the beaches in the country, according to the research generated through the Citizen Science for the SDGs in Ghana’ (CS4SDGs) project (Citizen Science Tackles Plastic Waste in Ghana, 2022).

Waste in any form is harmful to the environment.” Every year, an estimated 11.2 billion tonnes of solid waste is collected worldwide and decay of the organic proportion of solid waste is contributing about 5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions” (Solid Waste Management. UNEP, 2022). Poor waste Management is a global problem, especially plastic pollution. According to the United Nations Environmental Program, approximately 7 billion of the 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic produced from 1950-2017 became plastic waste, ending up in landfills or dumped. (Plastic Pollution. UNEP, 2022). Greenhouse gas emissions affect all persons and the effects are detrimental, it accounts for extreme weather conditions, floods and widespread bushfires we see today. For the ecosystem as a whole, plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, thereby reducing the ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change. This directly affects millions of people, from livelihoods and food production capabilities to social well-being (Plastic Pollution. UNEP, 2022).

WASH PROJECT OUTCOMES

Our Community Water Supply Project seeks to address:

• SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation, SDG 3 – Good health and well-being and SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities.
• Our environmental and Waste Management project seeks to address SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities (Target: Reduce the environmental impact of cities), SDG 13 – Climate Action and SDG 14 – Life Below Water (Targets: Reduce marine pollution and Conserve coastal and marine areas).