Visiting the bushes due to lack of toilets exposes girls to the dangers of sexual and other forms of physical and psychological violence. The Stop Violence Against Girls in School project, implemented by ActionAid in Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya, is concerned about making the school environment safer for girls through the institution and enactment of the requisite policies and legislations that focus specifically on alleviating violence tendencies against girls in school.

According to Kofi Asare, National Program Officer of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, the lack of school toilets in Ghana is attributed mainly to the absence of a comprehensive and operational infrastructural policy of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service. Asare says that Ghana needs strong institutions, which can prevent anyone from building schools without separate toilets for girls.

"This is what we need: an Education Service that can leverage the political interest of politically motivated DCE’s and the real development needs of the child ,especially girls, and a civil society that can monitor District Assemblies to make sure they implement infrastructure policies of the Ministry of Education".

Related web sites:

• Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition
• ActionAid - Stop Violence Against Girls in School
• WASH in Schools

Contact:

• Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, tel.: +233-21-521650, info@gnecc.org
• ActionAid International, South Africa, tel: +27-11-7314500, mail.jhb@actionaid.org

Source: Kofi Asare, Public Agenda / allAfrica.com, 31 Aug 2009

Tags: africa, gender, school sanitation