The United Nations International Children Fund (UNICEF) has opened a nationwide competition among basic schools dubbed.” Anti-Open Defecation Story challenged”.
The competition which is the UNICEF and with Ghana’s Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Ghana Education Service collaboration joint efforts to ending open defecation in Ghana.
The joint effort is to reverse Ghana’s position in Africa when it comes to open defecation with as high as 20% open defecation rate and second to Sudan. This, UNICEF said is not good for Ghana and citizens need to be sensitized against open defecation.
Basic schools across Ghana are expected to submit stories, essays, drama, drawing or dancing, depicting how bad open defecation is, its effects on the citizens and also show how it reflects on our poor sanitation habits and how Ghana can end open defection.
UNICEF’s Wash Officer, Mr. Charles Nachinab who announced this at Sakasaka primary school park during this year’s celebration of Global Hand Washing Day, said interested Basic schools have up to October 30th 2016 to submit their entries.
The competition, Mr. Nachinab said, was born out of failures of previous initiatives geared at ending open defecation. UNICEF hopes to get the subject of Open Defecation discussed by everyone involved so as to find a lasting solution to the problem holistically; the organization also hope much emphasis will placed on preventing children from being exposed to the dangers associated with defecating outside.
