Civil Society Platform (CSP), an advocacy group working on the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), has called for a reliable and affordable water supply as well as an effective sanitary practice to help improve the hygienic standards of the programme.
The group said without these, school children stand the risk of contracting sanitary related infections such as malaria, diarrhoea and cholera among others, which could negatively affect their learning and derail the objectives of the programme.
The working group, which is made of SEND-Ghana, ActionAid-Ghana, Ibis, Plan-Ghana, SNV, Trias-Ghana, all NGOs, working on the GSFP, raised these concerns in a day's workshop in Tamale on Wednesday.
It was under the theme; "Charting a way forward in addressing the water and sanitation issues affecting the Ghana School Feeding Programme", was aimed at assisting the GSFP to discuss and chart a way forward on how to address the water and sanitation issues affecting the school feeding programme.
The workshop afforded the working group an opportunity to share experiences and explore innovative workable and efficient strategies to enrich the implementation of the programme.
Madam Adama Jehanfo, Chairperson of the Civil Society Platform on the GSFP said the processes in which the raw food is produced and purchased, the energy and water sources used in cooking the food and the hygienic environment in which it is prepared, were major factors to consider in order to prepare a healthy diet for the pupils.
She said a recent research conducted by SEND Ghana indicates that 43 per cent of schools under the programme did not have safe water and 37 per cent of the 83 per cent of schools supplied with water tanks were not in use due to operational challenges.
Mr John Issah, Coordinator for the Civil Society Platform observed that the lack of adequate water and poor sanitation were the major bottlenecks to achieving the objectives of the school feeding programme.
He called for a collaborative effort between governments, civil society originations and the entire communities in which the programme operates to remedy the situation.
Mr Issah said the outcome of the workshop would help contribute to the improvement and quality of the programme.