This was also critical to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six, whose blueprint is to ensure access to safe water and sanitation for all by 2030.

The Reverend Dr Kwabena Ofosu-Addo, Brong-Ahafo Presbytery Chairperson of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), said discipline and attitudinal change on the part of the citizenry are prerequisites for meeting those goals.

An estimated 842,000 people in low- and middle-income countries die each year from diarrhoea and other causes associated with inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene, with children under five years bearing the greatest burden, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Reverend Dr Ofosu-Addo, who was addressing the '2020 National Convention of the PCG's Bible Study and Prayer Group at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, said the Church has for some time now been working with the government to ensure a cleaner environment.

"Cleanliness is next to godliness. We cannot call ourselves the children of God if we do not work together to protect the environment, which sustains us as human beings," he noted.

In line with this, the Presbytery set aside a whole week last year with the aim of creating public awareness on environmental-sanitation. 

"Let Christ be formed in you - Fulfilling the Great Commission", is the theme for the four-day Convention.

The programme, being organized under the auspices of the PCG's National Evangelism Committee, aims to pray for the nation and her development.

Reverend Dr Ofosu-Addo called on the congregation to be patriotic and law-abiding, saying it was expected of them to be supportive of development programmes meant to bring growth in their lives.

Mr Philip Richard Addai, National President of the Bible Study and Prayer Group, called on the participants to get actively involved in the prayer sessions.

This is because without God the nation could not make any meaningful headway in her development agenda.