Ghana has the highest rate of safely managed drinking water among the countries studied in RFLD’s policy brief, Women, Water and Article 15 of the Maputo Protocol. It also shows how national averages can hide deep gaps, between regions and between rich and poor. This article summarises the Ghana case study.
Ghana and the Maputo Protocol
Ghana signed the Maputo Protocol on 31 October 2003. It ratified the treaty on 13 June 2007 and deposited its instrument on 20 July 2007. Ghana made no reservation, so Article 15 applies in full.
Strong averages, deep gaps
According to the UN Statistical Yearbook, based on WHO and UNICEF data, 42.9% of Ghanaians used safely managed drinking water in 2024. That is well above the Western Africa average of 30.6%. Safely managed sanitation, however, stood at only 18.8%.
The urban and rural figures tell a sharper story. In towns, 60.2% of people had safely managed water in 2024. In rural areas, only 17.2% did.
Ghana has made real progress on basic drinking water, a lower standard. UN-Water’s 2023 snapshot shows that basic water coverage rose from 64% in 2000 to 86% in 2020. But the gaps in 2020 were striking:
- urban areas 96%, rural areas 72%;
- richest households 99%, poorest households 48%;
- Greater Accra 98%, Upper East 44%;
- water on premises for only 41% of people.
The last figure matters most for women. Where water is not on the premises, it has to be fetched. Data from the Joint Monitoring Programme show that in 7 out of 10 such households, women and girls aged 15 and over do this work. Across sub-Saharan Africa, women are four times as likely as men to collect water.
A policy that sees women as decision-makers
Ghana’s National Water Policy of 2007 stands out on gender. It recognises women as water users and as water and waste managers. It describes them as decision-makers in the sector. It also calls to “accelerate the representation of women at all levels”.
The policy sets no numerical quota, however. Without a target, it is hard to measure whether representation has improved. RFLD’s brief recommends binding quotas of at least 40% women in water user associations, municipal water committees, basin authorities and national regulators.
Women shaping rules at community level
A 2025 study by Abubakari in the journal Discover Water looked at rural Water and Sanitation Management Teams in Wa West District, in the Upper West Region. It found that women shape the rules these teams adopt. In one example, women proposed banning children from operating pumps.
The same study cites earlier regional research showing that men still outnumber women on these teams. The lesson is clear: when women are present, they change the rules, and they are not yet present in equal numbers.
A regional benchmark on menstrual health
Ghana has taken a step that other countries are watching. The 2025 Budget, read on 11 March 2025, allocated GH¢292.4 million for free sanitary pads for girls from Primary 5 to Senior High School. President John Dramani Mahama launched the programme in Accra on 24 April 2025.
RFLD’s brief treats this as a West African benchmark. It links water and sanitation policy to girls’ education and dignity, and it comes with a budget line. That combination is rare.
What RFLD recommends for Ghana
Applied to Ghana, the brief’s recommendations point to clear next steps. Ghana can turn the 2007 policy’s commitment on women’s representation into a binding quota, and report on Article 15 to the African Commission with data broken down by region and by sex.
The sanitary pad programme also offers a model to build on. The brief asks States to make every school a safe place for girls, with water, separate and lockable toilets, menstrual facilities and lighting. Ghana has already shown that it can fund one part of that package.
Ghana’s experience shows that progress on averages is possible. The task now is to close the gaps, so that a girl in Upper East has the same access as a girl in Greater Accra. For more on Ghana’s legal commitments to women, see RFLD’s country law profiles.
About the report
This article draws on RFLD’s report Women, Water and Article 15 of the Maputo Protocol, published on 4 October 2026. Read the summary, download the English edition or the French edition.
