• Rise above divisions - Kufuor urges
• Scond hand goods not helping Ghana's economy
• President To Visit Portugal
• Government commended for instituting NRC
• Poor pay more for water than the rich
  

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Poor pay more for water than the rich

Accra, March 18, GNA-

Though the richest of the world have greater access to clean water and decent sanitation than the poorest do, the poorest paid more for water and sanitation than the richest, the United National Human Development Report (HDR) 2006 said.
"One out of every five persons in the developing world, especially sub-Saharan Africa lack access to clean water and one in every two persons lack access to decent sanitation and yet they pay 10 times more than what rich households pay for water," the report stated.

The account, made available to the Ghana News Agency by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ghana Office, noted that as much as 85 per cent of the richest 20 per cent of the world had access to affordable portable water, whiles only 25 per cent of the poorest 20 per cent had access. It said consequently, productivity losses linked to water and sanitation in poor developing countries, which amounted to two per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the figure rose to five per cent of GDP in West African countries, according to the.

The report therefore, described the situation as perverse saying, "water pricing reflects a simple perverse principle; the poorer you are the more you pay." It said at least 1.4 billion people who lack access to good sanitation lived on less than two US dollars a day and therefore could simply not afford decent sanitation.

The report was captured under two broad themes; "Water for life, Water for livelihoods" and was focused in its entirety on water and sanitation. It discussed six main areas; namely, the crisis of water and sanitation, water for human consumption, the sanitation deficits, water and agriculture, trans-boundary waters, and water, vulnerability and risk.

Surveys conducted during the constitution of the report indicated that not a single person in the developed world lacked access to clean water and decent sanitation. Also, the problem of children falling sick or losing school days due to water and sanitation related problems were absolutely non-existent.

On the contrary, as much as 1.1 billion person lacked access to portable water and 2.6 lacked good sanitation in the developing world.' This resulted in 1.8 million children dying out of diarrhoea, 443 million schools days lost to water and sanitation related illnesses and an additional 150 million children suffering from retarded learning potential due to parasitic infections transmitted through water and sanitation every year, the reported said.

 "Unclean water and poor sanitation have claimed more lives in the past century than any other cause in the developing world," the reported said.

 The report noted that in developing countries, the issue had been with the poor performance of public and private sector partnerships in the generation and management of portable water for human consumption. It said in most developing countries, public-private partnerships had been lumped under the one heading "privatisation" with little or no regulation from the public, adding that regulation was necessary to ensure the realization of human right to water.

The report cited former UN Secretary-General, Busumuru Kofi Annan as saying that ""access to clean water is a fundamental human need and therefore a basic human right," and it was not therefore justifiable for such a huge chunk of the world's population to lack access to clean water. The reported noted that sanitation in particular had not been prominent in the policy agenda of most developing countries, adding that households also perceived sanitation as a public amenity and therefore, a public responsibility other than that of individual households. Additionally there was a supply barrier, which was as a result of the fact that in most developing countries, products were usually designed without reference to community needs and priorities and delivered through unaccountable government agencies giving rise to low uptake rates.

Mr. Emmanuel Otoo, Programmes Officer in charge of Human Development at the UNDP, noted that attitudes to water and sanitation needed to change at both the household, national and global levels in order to bridge the huge global water divide. He noted that even though the developing world was on the receiving end of the deficits, the condition posed a threat to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals on the global level and therefore demanded a global approach.

Source:
GNA

Scond hand goods not helping Ghana's economy

Accra, March 18, GNA-

Two Members of the Third Chamber, a Netherlands-based organization that advocates strengthened political support for international cooperation and sustainable development, arrived in Ghana over the weekend to ascertain the problems caused by second hand goods imported into developing countries. The members, Mr Hoite Spijkstra and Ms Isabelle Amorim while in Ghana would conduct a study on the possibilities of starting small enterprises, with small loans without collateral for Ghanaians on sustainable environmental project. The organisation will present the findings to the Netherlands Government, to enable it solicit special funding for micro-credits in terms of environmental protection in developing countries. The project is also part of the commitment by members to present proposals to the Netherlands Government on how to improve development cooperation aid to developing countries.
The Third Chamber, an initiative by the National Commission for Sustainable Development Cooperation (NCDO) thus ensures public support for international development visible to relevant politicians in addition to making the voice of developing countries heard in the political and public debates in the Netherlands Mr Spijkstra told the GNA that while in the country they would like to meet with relevant organizations concerned with importation of second hand goods, government officials, people that survive on second hand goods and visit the Tema Habour. This according to him will enable them to get the real picture of waste generated as a result of importation of second hand goods from developed countries to Ghana and to make concrete recommendations to the Netherlands Government on the situation.

Mr. Spijkstra said "We like to look for the possibilities to start small enterprises, with small loans without collateral." Should it not be possible to invest in Africa with the money of the 'removal contribution in a good garbage collection system' and a sustainable recycling in Africa?" he asked. The removable contribution is an amount of money the Dutch consumers pay when they buy new equipment. The two members were advocating such monies should go along with the product when being sold as second hand to the developing countries. Mr. Spijkstra expressed worry about the importation of second hand goods and equipment of bad quality from Western countries to Africa and said the desire to carry out such a study was motivated by the development. 18 March 07

Source:
GNA 

 

Rise above divisions - Kufuor urges

London, March 18, GNA -

President John Agyekum Kufuor has advised Ghanaians abroad to rise above ethnic and political divisions and come together to push forward the national agenda of joining mainstream globalisation. "This is the way we must go to make Ghana the Black Star of Africa", he said, at a well-attended dinner dance organised jointly by the Ghana Mission and the Ghana Union in the United Kingdom (UK) at the Ibis Hotel in London on Saturday to celebrate the country's 50 years of nationhood.
The First Lady, Mrs Theresa Kufuor, Professor Daniel Adzei-Bekoe, Chairman of the Council of State and Madam Ama Busia, another member of the Council, Foreign Minister Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Information and National Orientation and Mr Isaac Osei, Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and former High Commissioner to the UK, were among those present. President Kufuor was in London for a state visit at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II, something, seen as a recognition of the country's good democratic governance and economic performance. He told them that the Government would continue to be accountable and transparent and what was left was for the people to accept to do their bit by making sure that they lived up to their responsibilities to the nation.

He noted that citizens of the country abroad were a great asset, citing their remittances, which went up from 200 million dollars in 2001 to fur billion dollars, last year. President Kufuor said there should be a new Ghanaian who was confident and capable of competing with anybody from any part of the world. It was to achieve this that the nation had set its sights and vision high to develop its human resource by ensuring that the average citizen was literate and competent in Information, Communication Technology (ICT).

He spoke of the giant strides the country was making with her democracy and the performance of the economy and declared that Ghana was seeing a re-birth. This, he said, explained the tremendous international attention it was receiving. Nana Akufo-Addo said the future held a lot of hope for the country and called on all to put their shoulders to the wheel as it sets on the next 50 years milestone. The Chairman of the Union, Mr Kwame Adu, said they sincerely believed that there was strength in unity and were therefore determined to hold together. He conveyed the Union's congratulations to President Kufuor on his election to chair the African Union (AU).

Source:
GNA