Despite half a century of Official Development Assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation sector in Ghana the situation still remain far from satisfactory. In Ghana only 51 % of the urban population have access to an improved water resource while 34 % have access to safe sanitation.
Throughout history, ...
(Show more)Despite half a century of Official Development Assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation sector in Ghana the situation still remain far from satisfactory. In Ghana only 51 % of the urban population have access to an improved water resource while 34 % have access to safe sanitation.
Throughout history, opinions on what is best practice to provide more people with WSS services in Ghana have changed. Ideas about public and private responsibilities have shifted over time as well as ideas on the most appropriate governance models, centralized or decentralized etc. In addition, ideas on the very nature of water and the problems associated with scarcity of this precious resource, effect what actions are considered as appropriate to improve the situation for those in need.
The paper follow and analyze institutional change in the Ghanaian WSS sector during the post independence era 1957 – 2005. The concept of problem frames is used as an analytical tool in order to illustrate how ideas change and replace each other but also to highlight how problem frames are growing more complex as experiences are gained and knowledge sharing increase.
What were the previous trends and ideas driving development and motivating the institutional set up in the water and sewerage sector during different time periods? What solutions were generated from different problem frames? Who made the rules, for whom and what were the arguments?
The paper argues that that time and context limits the choice of action during different time periods. History also matters in the sense that one historical period tend to give way to another. In the case of Ghana this has often resulted in radical shifts in development policies where the pendulum has swung from one extreme position to another. Finally WSS sector development in Ghana has largely been determined by shifts in international policy trends rather than by local development strategies. However, recent trends indicate that as civil society is growing stronger this also effects policy development in the Ghanaian WSS sector.
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