Partners
WaterPlus projects in Ghana have the support of the Ghana Health Services, The Carter Center and UNICEF.
Ghana Health Services (GHS) is the lead implementation agency in Ghana for Guinea worm eradication and part of the Ministry of Health. It is GHS which employs the field-based personnel who interact with the 742 Guinea worm-endemic communities in Ghana. It is GHS personnel who are responsible for the day to day activities of the Guinea worm program including filter distribution, case counting, case treatment, Abate application (Abate is a chemical put into stagnant water sources to prevent Guinea worm) and providing health education. These activities are conducted in all communities in Ghana which are GW endemic, including in the East Gonja and Tolon - Kumbugu districts. With regard to this grant, Ghana Health Services will perform the functions stated above and also assist in educating the villages surrounding the three dams in the importance of clean water and closely interact with local water and sanitation committees. Finally, Ghana Health Services will be the lead organization for the flow of funds associated with this grant. Purchases of goods and services will be done through GHS and the Guinea Worm Secretariat. It will be controlled via an account at the Ghana Health Services called the Guinea Worm Revolving Fund set up specifically for Guinea worm-related activities.
Personnel to accomplish all items are already in place throughout the districts. Management personnel, including the National Coordinator for the Country, Dr. Andrew Seidu Korkor and Regional Directors are currently based in Tamale, which is around 50 kms from Chirifoyili.
The Carter Center has headed the Global Guinea Worm Eradication Program since the late 1980s. This effort has mainly involved providing managerial assistance to national governments (including the Ghana Health Service) to provide health interventions to stop the transmission of the disease. This is the function it performs in Ghana today. It will assist the Ghana Health Services with these interventions and to provide technical assistance to help manage the water project at the dam.
Personnel to accomplish these things will come in the form of a full time person employed by the Carter Center and currently working in the Tolon district. This person will assist the Ghana Health Service with interventions other than upgrading the dams. In addition, a person has been assigned in Tamale to assist specifically with water projects at endemic water sources such as these.
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) will be a partner implementation agency. UNICEF will assist with the purchase of components; provide technical expertise in awarding contracts for workmanship and in overall management of the effort. This will be done through their offices in Tamale, Ghana. In addition, they will provide 7 NIRA hand pumps, which will be installed on 7 open wells next to the dam. These pumps will serve as backup to the solar system in the event of temporary breakdown, and to help ensure people do not enter the water source.
UNICEF currently has under contract a technical expert who has successfully implemented similar dam projects in the Volta region of Ghana. This person's assistance will be called on to ensure successful project implementation. He is presently located in Tamale.