Players in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector in Ghana on Thursday agreed on strategies aimed at ensuring the country achieve targets set in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In a 16-point agreement reached after the four-day Mole 27 Conference at Ada, stakeholders including state and non-state actors in Ghana's WASH sector identified financing as the most critical need to ensure a successful WASH SDG campaign.

"Government partnership with private sector and CSOs will be critical in mobilizing funding from all sources (tax, oil revenue, etc)," the agreement said.

The sector's players are therefore determined to lobby the government to allocate some from the existing taxes and from the Infrastructure Fund to feed a National WASH Fund.

They will also work with lead government institutions including the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to review and improve Strategic Sector Development Plan (SSDP) to align with SDG localization.

Mole, the largest annual conference on the WASH sector in Ghana, brings together the government and its collaborators in the sector to review the previous year's activities and set targets for the coming year.

In his remarks, David Duncan, Chief of WASH at UNICEF Ghana office, noted that financing has become a daunting challenge in the country.

He urged collaboration between the government and the private sector including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in order to raise the necessary financing.

Head of the Water Directorate at the Ministry of Water Resources Works and Housing, Donald Tay, pledged the commitment of the government in working with the partners to ensure a success in the SDGs implementation.