Non-governmental organisations, community participation and rural drinking water supply in the Gushegu district of the Northern region

Abstract

The impetus for this study arose from the concern, which has grown in recent times over the positive and possible negative impact of the activities of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on rural, community and national development. It was thus the overall aim of this study to examine the extent to which the activities of NGOs, in terms of the provision of water have been accepted by the communities in which they are working. Specifically, the study focused on the level of community participation and patronage of water supply systems, the socio- economic effect of the water system on their lives, and finally the extent to which the activities of the NGOs can be coordinated to improve services to the people in the Gushegu District. Through the adoption of a descriptive research approach, it came to light that the District has a problem with drinking water supply. However, there are good prospects for increased provision of water in the district. NGOs identified Community Life Improvement Programme (CLIP) and World Vision Ghana (WVG) was involved in the provision of hand-dug wells, boreholes, as well as education on sanitary issues in the district. In relation to the above findings, the study made a number of recommendations including sound investment strategy in this sector that calls for low-cost and maintainable solutions to achieve wide-scale coverage of the rural and peri-urban communities in developing countries.