EmpowerHer: Lavatory (WASH) Initiative

Access to proper sanitation facilities, including personal toilets, is fundamental for individual and community health worldwide. Shockingly, over 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation, with more than 40% of the global population resorting to open or unsanitary spaces.

In Ghana, according to the 2021 National Housing and Population Census, over 18% of households lack toilet facilities, with rural areas bearing the brunt. Public restrooms are often the go-to solution, but their maintenance is crucial to prevent diseases like typhoid and cholera. For many Ghanaians, especially those without home facilities, standing in long lines at public restrooms is a daily ordeal. Across 34 countries, one-third (345) of Africans surveyed report having a toilet in their home and another 37% use a toilet or latrine elsewhere in their compound. This leaves nearly one-third (29%) having to go outside their compound, including 14% who say they do not have access to toilet facilities at all.

In 2023, the Nu Lambda Sigma chapter partnered with Team CSR-Ghana, to address this issue. thus far, our EmpowerHer Lavatory (WASH) Initiative have constructed 6-Unit (2 showers and 4 stalls) public lavatory facilities at Potters Village, home to 130+ children rescued from abuse and abandonment, Public School located in Ntonso Village in Kumasi (the homeland of adinkra cloth and the only place in Ghana where traditional adinkra is made locally from scratch) p, and renovated the existing public bathrooms (Men and Women) at the Cape Coast Castle (one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa by European traders).

To effectively manage their menstruation, girls and women require access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, affordable and appropriate menstrual hygiene materials, information on good practices, and a supportive environment where they can manage menstruation without embarrassment or stigma.

Our project focuses on increasing access to safe, affordable, and sustainable water, with a special emphasis on the needs of vulnerable girls and women. This EmpowerHer Lavatory (WASH) Initiative aligns with our four pillars: EmpowerHer Borehole and EmpowerHer Menstrual Health and Hygiene / Education (Period Poverty/Period Dignity Campaign).