Beyond the MDG water target to universal water coverage in Ghana: the key transformative shifts required

Abstract

Abstract Ghana achieved its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) water target about a decade before the 2015 deadline. However, as the world shifts focus to achieving sustainable universal water coverage, there is the need for redoubled efforts to keep up this feat. This paper examines the success drivers and the major transformative shifts required to sustain efforts in Ghana's water sector. The findings indicate that the successes chalked in Ghana's water sector have been largely fuelled by strong donor support and a well organised institutional and policy framework. About 90% of funding for the sector has been contributed by donors and creditors while actual government expenditure remains below 0.5% of GDP. The country has a strong policy and institutional framework guiding developments in the water sector. Nevertheless, the dwindling donor support, poor cost recovery mechanisms in the sector, ineffective strategies for ensuring human right to water, unbridled pollution of freshwater resources, poor borehole construction, and poor environmental sanitation across the country threaten to unwind the progress made in the sector. Without a paradigm shift, these could potentially derail efforts at achieving and sustaining universal water coverage. The paper discusses how these issues can be addressed to ensure universal access to potable water in the country.