Nabil Chemaly, senior programs officer for safe water at Conrad Hilton Foundation, visited the Asutifi North District for business on October 3 and 4, 2022.
The Foundation visited as part of its efforts to review existing funds, meet grantees, partners, and local officials, and learn more about the clean water model being used in the district.
The Hilton Foundation has been a significant donor to ANAM initiatives since the Initiative’s inception in 2017.
After meeting with the District Assembly’s Management, Nabil travelled to a few designated project sites in the district with representatives from IRC, Netcentric Campaigns, World Vision, Aquaya, and Safe Water Network.
The team first went to the Ntotroso Information Centre, where they spoke with the operator about how his efforts help disseminate WASH information through radio rebroadcasting, in-person community engagement, network building, and additional support in relaying complaints through the WASH Desk Office. The next stop was the Ntotroso Resettlement Water Station, where local Nananom were discussing their struggles and activities with facility management.
The team spent time with Nananom and some locals in Atwedie (Kenyasi 3), and they also visited WASH in Schools and Healthcare initiatives run by World Vision. Additionally, Safe Water Network representatives visited the Wamahinso and Kenyasi Beposo Safe Water projects to learn more about their operational modules and the state of the project’s execution. As a result, the Customer Support Assistant of the WASH Desk Office was called to the client’s unit office of the District Assembly.
After the site inspection, Nabil commented to the ANAM WASH Desk, “It is extremely positive. The district administration has a strong political commitment. And in a really short amount of time, we were able to observe some excellent effects. “Communities that we met with merely made it very obvious that the project dealt with the concerns. I’ve observed that the grantees and partners we are working with are extraordinary and talented,” he continued.
The biggest challenge right now is to rally more contributors to continue contributing, Nabil said when asked what has to be done to address issues that haven’t yet been addressed.
Additionally, make all of this information available to other districts and the stakeholders so that this strategy will be supported and mainstreamed.