On the occasion of World Water Day, the Ghana Statistical Service has released findings from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), indicating one in five (19.1%) individuals in the household population does not have enough drinking water.
“the Northern Region facing the most acute challenge, where 32.1% of individuals lacked adequate drinking water. This trend was also observed in the Oti and North East regions, where 31.2% and 26.2% of the population, respectively, faced water scarcity, emphasizing the urgent need for targeted interventions to address this issue.”
Furthermore, the report reveals that a significant portion of the population, particularly in the North East Region, must travel more than 30 minutes round-trip to obtain drinking water, with 27.5% of the population affected, highlighting the accessibility issue faced by many communities.
Additionally, the lack of water on premises is a widespread challenge, affecting 59.9% of Ghanaians nationally, with the highest percentage recorded in the Savannah Region, where 89.8% of the population did not have water on their premises.
Despite these challenges, there are some encouraging signs, with over 83.8% of the population having access to basic drinking water services nationally.
However, significant disparities persist, particularly concerning wealth quintiles, with those in the lowest quintile facing the greatest obstacles, as 93.6% were without drinking water on their premises, compared to 17.5% in the highest quintile.
The GSS made this known in a statement sighted by Online Times new on Friday, As the world commemorates 2024 World Water Day under the theme is ‘Water for Peace
Below is the full statement
World Water Day press release from GSS
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