SIWI Amman hosts Ghana representatives for WASH exposure visit in Jordan

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Wastewater Water governance

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Lara Nassar

Programme Manager, WANA,

Water and Sanitation

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Ellen Boyer Pokorny

Communications Manager,

Communications

Last week, SIWI’s Amman office met with representatives from Ghana to explore water management in different contexts.

Lara Nassar, Manal Sraideh and Moez Allaoui from SIWI welcoming a delegation from Ghana into the Jordan office — no caption

The visit aimed at acquiring first-hand knowledge and experiences in key areas related to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) governance at the subnational level in Jordan. It also gathered important insights into WASH services for vulnerable outreach communities, potential funding mechanisms, public sanitation facilities management, and WASH accountability.

This visit also sets the stage for the successful implementation of the Collaboration for Impact in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (Co-WASH) project in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly in Ghana.

SIWI and Ghana representatives spent the first day in the field, at both the Dulail wastewater treatment plant in the morning, where the focus was on decentralized sanitation solutions, and the Azraq Wetland Reserve in the afternoon. The Azraq Wetland Reserve is a model in climate change adaptation, water resource management, and biodiversity, and therefore can provide key insights for successful wetland management.

The second day, delegates met with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, where an overview of Jordan’s water and sanitation sector, Jordan’s overall experience in providing water and sanitation to vulnerable outreach communities and rural communities, and a discussion of funding models and mechanisms for WASH projects, such as with the Open Government Partnership’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund that helped fund the visit, were covered by the presentations. That evening, delegates were able to attend a networking dinner to share experiences and connect.

“The importance of exchanging knowledge, experiences, and expertise in the WASH sector cannot be overstated.”

Lara Nassar, Programme Manager, SIWI

On the final day of the exposure visit, participants were presented with information regarding WASH in vulnerable outreach communities in Jordan, followed by a field visit to the community in Amman. This vulnerable outreach community can provide the Ghana representatives with model information for the successful implementation of similar communities.

“The importance of exchanging knowledge, experiences, and expertise in the WASH sector cannot be overstated.” says Lara Nassar, Programme Manager in the Amman office of SIWI. “The lessons learned in Amman, and in the Western Africa Northen Asia (WANA) region in general, can help representatives in Ghana and other regions to make more informed, sustainable, and climate resilient decisions.”

This week, representatives from Libya will journey to Amman for another WASH exposure visit.