Financing WASH in Last-Mile Communities: Rethinking Partnerships in a Changing Donor Landscape
As the current donor landscape and national policy increasingly emphasize cost recovery, water services can no longer be provided entirely for free. However, this shift presents significant challenges in last-mile communities, where the realities on the ground make revenue collection difficult.
In many of these underserved areas, some households can afford to pay for water, but many cannot. Schools and health facilities also expect to access water either for free or at highly subsidized rates. This raises a critical question: Who pays for water for schools, health facilities, and households that genuinely cannot afford it?
Stakeholder Workshop: A Call to Rethink WASH Financing
To address this pressing issue, Easy Water for Everyone (EWfE), in partnership with the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) and the Health Promotion Division of the Ghana Health Service, hosted a high-level stakeholder workshop under the theme: "Financing WASH in Last-Mile Communities: Rethinking Partnerships in a Changing Donor Landscape."
The event took place on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at the Sunlodge Hotel in Accra, as part of Ghana's WASH Week celebrations.
Keynote Reflections
Delivering the keynote address, Harrison Matti, Chief Operating Officer of EWfE, shared reflections from over a decade of operations. He highlighted the impact of EWfE’s clean water interventions while emphasizing the growing funding gap and revenue generation challenges affecting the sustainability of WASH programs in remote areas.
“Non-profit organizations operating in these areas are therefore confronted with sustainability issues. Without adequate revenue from user fees, it becomes difficult to maintain water systems and ensure uninterrupted service delivery,” he observed.
He noted that while some District Assemblies, particularly in the Ahafo Region, have contributed to capital expenditures for water infrastructure, there remains a significant gap in funding for schools and those who cannot afford them.
Expanding the Conversation
Suzzy Abaidoo, a representative of the Ministry of Works, Housing, and Water Resources, shared that the ministry plans to establish a national technical group to broaden WASH dialogue and include non-water sector actors in policymaking.
Meanwhile, Gladys Gbadagbali from the Health Promotion Division (GHS) emphasized the importance of linking WASH with health interventions:
“Advocacy for collaboration on WASH and health programs is essential to improving health outcomes, reducing disease burdens, and building resilient health systems, particularly in fragile and humanitarian contexts,” she stated.
Key Takeaways and Action Points
The dialogue produced several strategic recommendations, reaffirming EWfE’s commitment to innovative, inclusive, and community-led solutions. Notable takeaways include:
Advocating for a portion of the 10% District Assembly Common Fund allocated for Water to be earmarked for maintaining community water systems.
Scaling the Pay-to-Fetch model as a sustainable, community-driven financing mechanism.
Conducting deeper affordability and ability-to-pay assessments before implementing new projects.
Strengthening collaboration with District Assemblies in project planning, implementation, and oversight.
Encouraging CONIWAS to lead the development of a national framework that clearly defines “last-mile communities” for policy and funding purposes.
Partnering with faith-based organizations to support project outreach and delivery.
Exploring smart investment strategies to reduce over-reliance on revenues generated at the community level.
Broad-Based Participation
This high-level engagement convened a diverse group of stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Works, Housing, and Water Resources, Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy & Religious Affairs, Skyfox Ltd, IRC, Saha Global, Janok Foundation, Water and Sanitation for Urban Populations, ProNet North, Ghana WASH Journalists Network (GWJN), and Le Korsa.
A Call for Global Support
As the donor landscape evolves, organizations like EWfE is adapting through smarter partnerships, data-driven models, and sustainable financing strategies. But we cannot do this alone.
We call on global donors, development partners, and advocates to join us in ensuring that no community is left behind. Together, we can