Jamila Akweley Okertchiri (right) with Alhaji A. R Gomda, News Editor, DAILY GUIDE (middle) receiving a citation from an official from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
Jamila Akweley Okertchiri, a DAILY GUIDE reporter, has topped a UNICEF, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and Canadian Government-sponsored Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) contest for journalists.
Her entries: ‘Ending Open Defecation, A Right Denied’ and ‘Ending Open Defecation: The Smart Way,’ were adjudged the best and second best entries respectively in the estimation of a panel of judges assigned the task of assessing the 19 entries from 10 media outlets in the country.
The ‘Face of Open-Defecation-Free (ODF)’ media contest was launched as part of efforts to stem the incidence of open defecation across the country, the health hazards of the practice informing the decision.
Jamila Okertchiri’s award package includes a trip to Stockholm, Sweden, as a participant in a World Water Week programme scheduled to take place between 28th August and 2nd September 2016. Jamila was followed by Winifred Affum of GTV and Gabriel Obodai Torgbor-Ashong of Metro TV in the nationwide contest.
The contest was launched in December 2015 to enhance media coverage on the inappropriate practice, given the relatively poor coverage of sanitation issues in Africa, contest organizers have said.
A joint press release by the government of Canada and UNICEF observed, “While the practice perpetuates diseases such as cholera which killed 247 people in 2014, access to household toilet facilities in the country remains limited to 18% of households in urban areas and 9% in rural areas. In Ghana only 15% of the population has access to household toilet facilities.”
An awareness creation drive towards eliminating the practice of open defecation by 2020 is ongoing, to which end the governments of Ghana and Canada and UNICEF have joined hands, the organization of the contest being part of the overall WASH programme.
DAILY GUIDE was honoured with a flowery citation for its role in covering sanitation issues, especially open defecation, as evidenced by the overall winner’s articles which tipped the scale of the contest.
The citation, signed by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and embossed with a UNICEF logo reads, “Established in 1988 your paper is currently the leading private newspaper in Ghana and the second leading newspaper nationwide.
“Your subscription to human rights in general and the principles of freedom of speech in particular as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana has been the voice of the voiceless using your medium of information dissemination to champion the cause of holistic development.
“Your dedication to national development is evident in your endeavour to identify and deal with niche issues that positively influence and benefit society at large.
“The amount of space you provide to issues of sanitation in general and open defecation in particular, is deeply appreciated and no wonder one of your staff reporters, Jamila Akweley Okerchiri, has won this first edition of the open defecation-free media contest.
“For your dedication to the fight against open defecation in Ghana we say Ayekoo!”
DAILY GUIDE has also been honoured by UNICEF to the tune of GH¢14,000, the cost of space for anti-open defecation articles and news stories.
By A.R. Gomda