Marine Litter Network

Access to clean water remains a major challenge for millions of people around the world, including Ghana. The Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECoR) of the University of Cape Coast, in partnership with  Friends of the Nation (FoN)  marked World Water Day in the Shama District  of the Western Region on 22^nd March 2023. Every year on March 22nd, World Water Day is held to raise awareness of the 2.2 billion people who do not have access to safe drinking water. The day is used to promote sustainable water resource management.

The celebration forms part of activities of the Marine Litter Network (MALNET) project being implemented by ACECoR together with partners from three Africa Centres of Excellence, government agencies and Non-governmental Organisations in Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Benin. The Network is funded by the Association of African Universities with the aim to promote regional partnerships to understand the marine litter menace through research and galvanise stakeholder actions towards the conservation of coastal and marine environments.

The celebration themed “The Role of the Community in Accelerating Change to Solve Water and Sanitation Crises” sought to contribute to ongoing awareness activities on the growing challenges associated with water pollution and the need for water preservation in the country – contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6.

As part of activities for the day, the partners engaged community members and school children in a clean-up exercise along the Apo beach.

Addressing community members and participants after the clean-up exercise, Ms. Esinam Attipoe- an Assistant Research Fellow at ACECoR, who doubles as the Project Coordinator, underscored the importance of water as a resource for the survival of living organisms, including human beings and urged the public to protect water resources. She called on residents to desist from defecating and throwing household waste on the beach.

The day was climaxed with a durbar at Abuesi Methodist Basic School at Shama with drama performances, poetry recitals and quiz competition by students to further drum home the need to sustainably use and manage aquatic resources for current and future generations. The event was graced and supported by both government and private institutions such as the Shama District Assembly, Environmental Protection Agency, National Disaster Management Organisation and Ecozoil Ghana Company Limited.