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The article focuses on the issue of freedom of the press in Ghana. It informs that journalists face risks of arrest, detention, and torture from state agencies like the police, military, secret service, and political operatives of ruling parties. It also pays attention to the need to take action and to guarantee the safety of media in the country by the government.

Community water projects offer an economically attractive and physically accessible solution for livelihoods. Piase Community Water Project (PCWP) was initiated in 2005 to provide potable water to the rural communities surrounding Piase. Using data from a field survey with sampled participants in the Bosomtwe district, where this rural water project was implemented, the paper analyses challenges encountered during the project's progress. An advanced SWOT matrix approach is used to analyse the cascading effects of both internal and external factors on the PCWP's planning and evaluation. Following an analysis of existing rural water planning and evaluation issues, the paper explores possible solutions and long-term strategies to provide rural communities with a reliable water supply. This study provides significant insight for policymakers to develop effective strategies that promote a balance between strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in rural water projects in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to water is a matter of daily survival for people around the world. Water is crucial for human survival and also central to the development of every nation. The recent literature on world water suggests that the water crisis being experienced is related to governance and not a real crisis of scarcity and stress. This paper aims at identifying water governance practices and the challenges associated with water governance in Ghana. The paper reviews the literature on the implementation of policy directives and actions with specific focus on water resources governance aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Ghana. Ghana's National Water Policy is expected to turn the fortunes of the country around in terms of water resources management. Concerning water resources management, the policy advocates for an IWRM approach. Since its implementation, certain setbacks have been challenging the effectiveness of the policy, such as inadequate institutional capacity, inadequate funding, ineffective enforcement of existing regulations, inadequate legal framework, and lack of adequate data. The paper suggests, among other things, the building of both human and institutional capacity, and making the environment a government priority, as ways to contribute to the effective implementation of the National Water Policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The good development of health care is conducive to improve the value and prospects of society. However, health sectors of Ghana are facing a challenge in providing medical services with expected quality for an ever-increasing number of patients in response to competitive pressures. In such circumstances, the proper evaluation of hospital health-care delivery quality becomes critical. Thus, to achieve this goal, this paper proposes an integrated medical triangular fuzzy MULTIMOORA approach (IMTFMA). We firstly construct the appropriate evaluation criteria system based on the analysis of Ghana's medical services. Then, to properly evaluate the weight of the criteria in a comprehensive manner, we determine the weight of criteria from subjective and objective perspectives. Meantime, we handle the fuzzy evaluation of experts for the criterion importance with the enhanced alpha-level sets method. According to the triangular fuzzy rating for hospitals provided by respondents, we further develop a novel evaluation method based on MULTIMOORA with the axiomatic design for accurately evaluating health-care delivery quality. The research is conducted on 8 selected hospitals, including 4 public and 4 private hospitals in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, with 24 criteria. 15 experts with rich experience in related fields and 480 respondents assessed the above 8 selected hospitals by questionnaires. According to the outcome of the empirical analysis, even though public hospitals benefit subsidy from the government, they perform abysmally low, whereas private hospitals which are self-sponsored rather perform extremely better than expectation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provisioning of water and sanitation services has become one of the key determinants of SDGs. This review focuses on the trends in water and sanitation services and reforms in India and Ghana over the last two decades. The findings reveal that access to water has improved in India and Ghana at 81.5 and 92.7%, respectively. However, access to sanitation continues to be a challenge in both countries, with the currently reported coverage being 59.5% and 18.5%, respectively. The index of sustainable development goal (SDG) performance of Ghana and India stands at 65.4 and 61.9 with global rankings of 100 and 117, respectively. The adverse impacts of poor access to sanitation increasingly reflect on rising numbers of population suffering from water-borne diseases. From the policy perspective, the paper highlights the need for framing pro-poor water and sanitation policies; focusing on women and girls' education; promoting affordable water and sanitation services; promoting collaboration of stakeholders involved in the rural water and sanitation sectors; and increasing budgetary allocations by local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a cluster randomized evaluation in Southern Ghana, this paper estimates the impacts of water quality testing and information on averting behaviors, demand and expenditures on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Households are randomly assigned into either child treatment or adult treatment or comparison group. The study also elicits households' valuation of water quality testing and information using a stated preference approach. The study finds that averting behaviors and expenses on WASH increased more in the treatment households than the comparison households. The results also show that the experiment does not lead to demand forWASH information and infrastructure, except for water treatment in the adult treatment group. Contingent valuation estimates of households' willingness to pay (WTP) for water quality testing and information are lower than the cost, and are consistent with previous studies which show low valuation of water quality technology in Ghana. The WTP in the treatment groups are lower than the comparison group. The study also finds differential impacts on some of the outcome measures based on the random assignment into the treatment groups. The results have research and policy implications on the demand for preventive health goods and environmental quality in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With the exigencies of health-care service quality to actualize sustainable socio-economic and developmental aspirations, in both peripheral and core countries, this paper aims to provide empirical evidence on health-care service quality and its precursor – patients' satisfaction, and continuous service utilization. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 398 screened questionnaires were analyzed from selected hospitals of the Koforidua, Ghana. Findings from the structural equation modeling showed a significant association among perceived quality, patients' satisfaction and tangibility. Contrary to the expectations, the results did not show a significant association among the constructs – perceived quality, safety and empathy. Again, the model fit indices collaboratively showed that the hypothesized model overwhelmingly "fit" the sample data, and further proved the predictive robustness of the model. Findings: The results of the analysis demonstrate that patients were discontent with empathy and safety measures at the hospitals. However, tangible and perceived quality were identified as significant predictors of patients' satisfaction. Originality/value: There is a dearth of empirical investigations on the assessment of health-care service quality and patients' satisfaction in developing economies such as Ghana. Therefore, the implication of the study will equip the top hierarchy of the Health System of Ghana in achieving their mission, and objectives in line with quality service delivery. In particular, MoH and GHS can embark on a routine exercise to audit the hospitals for re-accreditation, and provide CCT cameras to improve safety and security conditions at the hospitals, while enforcing the culture of receptive hospital environment to improve empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1993, the rural water sector of Ghana has implemented a policy of increased private sector partnerships within the sector. The policy has resulted in private sector driven supply chains in rural water supply. This paper takes a look at these private sector driven supply chains and at the perceptions of various stakeholders regarding their outputs. These perceptions were gathered through a survey carried out in two communities in Ghana. The paper concludes that though supply chains in the two communities are significantly private sector driven, demand for installation services are directly linked to the activities of implementing agencies (government, NGOs, international donor agencies) while that of repair services, maintenance and spare parts are directly linked to the installed equipment. Policy makers must therefore look more closely at the role of agencies responsible for the implementation of their policies to ensure that maximum benefits are derived from increased private sector partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines water management policies and institutions in the Ghanaian and Burkinabe portions of the Volta basin of West Africa. The paper begins with a brief historical overview of political, cultural and environmental developments in the basin since the late 19th century. Customary approaches to water management in the Volta are described next, followed by colonial and post-colonial water management developments in Ghana and Burkina Faso. The interplay between customary and national water management institutions in the watershed is then analysed so as to understand how conditions changed as a result of national-level developments. The paper also examines transboundary developments in the Volta basin, and concludes with a discussion of some of the strengths and weaknesses of the different management approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author describes his work as Ghana correspondent for the British newspaper "The Observer" in the 1960s. He accepted the job because he noticed that the paper provided accurate news about Africa, unlike other British papers. He describes his encounters with Colin Legum, "The Observer" Commonwealth correspondent, whose actions nearly put him into prison. He also expresses his awe at advances in communications, from the telex that he used in the 1960s to digital devices in the 21st century.

Ghana has been highly successful in mining for over a century. However, one area of concern is the negative impact of mining activities on water resources: their quality and quantity. Mining companies are guided by rules and regulations, particularly those that have to do with the quality of water supply. Safe water supply is essential for improved health and quality of life for increased productivity. Yet, water supply in mining communities has not assumed the critical importance that it deserves toward the realization of human health security. A combination of key informant interviews and a copious desk-top study of official documentary reports were analysed in the context of the polluter-pays principle. The paper interrogates the corporate social responsibility ambivalence that arises from fresh water contamination during the extraction of mineral resources in the western mining region of Ghana. In spite of some efforts at addressing this problem through corporate social responsibilities, communities affected by mining still question the professed sensitivity of mining companies to their plight with respect to their inalienable right to water supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a governance theory framework to analyse the introductory process for the private sector managing and operating the public water utility Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The analysis was performed from three standpoints: process inputs, process conduct and process outcomes. The consultation process on involvement of the private sector was hostile and resulted in a "light" form of private sector participation in the form of a management contract that can be considered a de facto compromise, although not deliberate, by stakeholders. The challenges in improving the water sector performance and water supply services are profound. Because of continuing institutional, social, political and legal constraints, the involvement of the private sector per se is not the solution to providing long-term improvement in water services. The article concludes that it is misleading to leapfrog from government to governance, calling for the transmission of a governance "recipe", as conceptualised in the Western context, and to assume that it can work in an unaccommodating institutional context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the main findings of a multi-country research project designed to develop a better understanding of the performance of community-managed rural water supply systems in developing countries. Data were collected from households, village water committees, focus groups of village residents, system operators and key informants in 400 rural communities in Peru. Bolivia and Ghana. Our findings suggest that the demand-driven, community management model, coupled with access to spare parts and some technical expertise, has come a long way toward unraveling the puzzle of how best to design and implement rural water supply programs in developing countries. In all three countries, rural water supply projects were working. Among the households included in our sample in Peru and Bolivia, 95% had operational taps at the time of our field visit. In 90% of the villages in Ghana, all project handpumps were still working. Not only had the rural water systems not broken down, but almost all the households in these communities were obtaining at least some of their water from the systems. However, some households were also still using water from other sources. In Ghana, 38% of households still reported using water from unprotected sources (e.g. springs, fiver, open wells) for drinking and/or cooking. Another troublesome finding is that rural households in the sample villages are paying very little for the improved water services and, as a result, the finances of many village water committees are in poor shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is estimated that, about one billion people mostly from Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are infected with the Hookworm infection. In this paper, we developed and analyzed a model for the transmission dynamics of Hookworm infection in a human population using Caputo fractional order differential operator. Under Caputo operator, existence and uniqueness for the solutions of the new Hookworm infection model have been analyzed using fixed point theorems. Parameters of the model are estimated with the help of real statistics available for the Hookworm infection from a city of Ghana and the best fit is obtained under the nonlinear least-squares curve fitting technique. Further analysis of the proposed model shows that the disease free (infection-absent) equilibrium is locally asymptotically stable whenever a certain reproduction number R 0 < 1 and the endemic (infection-present) equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable whenever R 0 < 1 and unstable if R 0 > 1. Using forward normalized sensitivity index, the most sensitive parameters are identified that are essential for control of the infection and we obtained different types of simulations for the proposed Hookworm transmission system with the best fitted fractional order parameter (χ). The modelling results show that the chemotherapy treatment, awareness and improvement of personal hygiene are the best measures to be taken for control of the Hookworm infection among vulnerable community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience in living in Asiakwa, Ghana where he witnessed the success of the cocoa-buying business of a man with an unusual name, Kofi Paper.

An excerpt from a paper about Ghana's agricultural chemical market presented by William Akonnor Kotey during the First Annual Farm Chemicals International Trade Summit held at the Sheraton Center Hotel in Toronto, Ontario in August 2007 is presented.

The article reports on the study conducted by England-based Oxford University's Linda Scott, Sue Dopson, Catherine Dolan and Paul Montgomery in Ghana, which showed that giving sanitary pads to girls in developing countries could be a vital strategy to improve their school attendance.

Reports that Adelaide Abankwah, a woman who fled the threat of genital mutilation in Ghana, received asylum in the United States. Where she was detained due to false identification papers; Magazine which featured her story; Comments from Abankwah.

The article presents information on the mining activities in Tanzania. It informs about the Africa Strategy for Mining Technical Paper which was developed the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for themining sector in Tanzania. It also mentions that Tanzania ranks as Africa'sfourth largest producer of gold after South Africa, Ghana and Mali.