Western Regional team of journalists to be empowered by M-CODe

By Laudia Sawer

Tema, Sept. 01, GNA – To guarantee that coverage of open defecation is expanded, the Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODe) will host a three-day empowerment forum for journalists in the Western Region from Wednesday, September 6, to Friday, September 8.

According to a news release from Mr. Francis Ameyibor, M-CODe National Convenor, the three-day empowerment event is part of the “M-CODe 2023 Anti-Open Defecation Nationwide Advocacy efforts supported by World Vision Ghana.

The Regional Coordinating Council, Environmental Health Department, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Community Water and Sanitation Agency, Department of Community Development, Department of Gender, and the National Commission for Civic Education are among the organisations that Mr. Ameyibor emphasised as additional stakeholders in addition to the media.

The three-day event would also include participation from other parties, including Regional Environmental Officers, the Environmental Protection Agency, CONIWAS, Kings Hall Media, World Vision, and members of civil society organisations.

Others are Regional Officers from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Sanitation, and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, among others, who work to revive and maintain the activism to alter the rules and build a society free of open defecation.

As part of national efforts to put an end to the practise, M-CODe believed that empowerment through capacity building, connecting key players in the battle against open defecation, and developing a forum to expose communities still engaging in the practice were all important.

He mentioned the public awareness campaign towards the global aim of eliminating open defecation by 2030 and the empowering of media, who serve as important partners to revitalise locally.

M-CODe acknowledges Sustainable Development Goal Six, which calls for a significant increase in toilet use, stating that “open defecation is an affront to the dignity, health, and well-being, especially of girls and women”.

The Media Coalition Against Open Defecation reiterated its called on the corporate world to support the national efforts to end open defecation, which also required investment in the construction, maintenance, and use of latrines and other basic services.

GNA

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