A 12-unit facility, handed to Asikuma.

Sanitopia CIC has commissioned a 12-unit modern washroom project at Asikuma, in the Asuogyaman district of Ghana's Eastern Region. The facility was handed to the community at a ceremony attended by local leaders and residents.

Speaking at the commissioning, Founder and Chairman Richard Kojo Acheampong placed the ownership of the facility squarely with the community.

This facility represents dignity, opportunity, and pride. To the people of Asikuma, this belongs to you.

Maintenance is the project

Sanitopia's Executive Director used the ceremony to make a point the organisation returns to on every handover: a building is only the beginning.

Sanitation is not a one-time event; it is a way of life.

Every Sanitopia facility is handed over with caretakers trained, supplies provided and an inspection schedule agreed, so that the community can keep it working long after the ribbon is cut.

The scale of the problem

World Health Organisation and UNICEF figures put the number of people worldwide without access to safely managed sanitation at roughly 4.2 billion. In Ghana, close to 80 percent of households lack a basic toilet facility.

Asikuma follows the completion of a 12-seater girls' toilet facility and a 25-unit washroom at Nkonya Senior High School in the Oti Region, and forms part of a wider commitment to deliver more than 2,000 sanitation projects across Ghana and 10,000 across Africa.