Environmental sanitation unleashed: Effectiveness of the NSD exercise

Investment in sanitation facilities by government alone is not enough to meet the challenge of waste management hence, the need to involve the community. Though community participation efforts were an integral component of Ghana’s national rural programme in the 1990s, the initiative waned over time. However, the cholera outbreak in 2014, and other diseases resulting from poor sanitation led to the declaration of the first Saturday of every month as a National Sanitation Day (NSD) by the government. Using interviewer–administered questionnaire, the inclusiveness, effectiveness and challenges of the NSD were assessed. The knowledge base and participation of respondents during the NSD were high, though economic activities restricted others. Given the importance of a clean environment on socio-economic life and health, the author(s) argue that community participation should be recognized as an interaction, rather than a coercion, which should be undertaken willingly so as to reap its full potential.