2026 Global RightsShield Awards: HRRG honours GAMA-SWP boss Ing. George Asiedu for sanitation leadership after 2023 intervention
Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) has honoured the Coordinator of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA-SWP), Ing. Dr. George Asiedu, with its Global RightsShield Award for Sanitation & Sustainable Cities Leadership.
The award recognises Ing. Dr. Asiedu’s contribution to sanitation and water development, public health, community resilience and sustainable urban development, with HRRG also highlighting a 2023 intervention that resulted in the provision of a toilet facility for a teenage girl and her family in Gbegbeyise in the Greater Accra Region.
The award was presented to Ing. Dr. Asiedu at his office in Accra on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, following the inaugural presentation of the HRRG Global RightsShield Awards in Abuja, Nigeria.
He received the honour under Category 2 of the 2026 awards programme.
The inaugural awards were presented under the theme, “Championing Human Rights and Democratic Renewal,” during the 3rd Africa High-Level Civil Society Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Conference held at the Abuja Continental Hotel from July 14 to 17, 2026.
2023 report that triggered sanitation intervention
A key factor highlighted by HRRG in recognising Ing. Dr. Asiedu was his response to a 2023 report by HRRG Executive Director and human rights journalist Dr. Joseph Kobla Wemakor.
In June 2023, Dr. Wemakor published an investigative report titled “Living without a toilet at home: The traumatic tale of a 15-year-old typhoid fever patient.”
The report told the story of a teenage girl who was battling typhoid fever while living with her family in Gbegbeyise without a toilet facility at their home.
The report, which was published by GhanaWeb and subsequently republished by other media platforms, drew attention to the family’s sanitation challenges and the implications for their health and dignity.
According to HRRG, the report later came to the attention of GAMA-SWP.
Ing. Dr. Asiedu and his team subsequently responded to the situation, with the project mobilising to address the family’s sanitation needs.
The intervention ultimately resulted in the provision of a toilet facility for the teenage girl and her family.
HRRG said it has documentary records relating to both the original report and the subsequent intervention, which formed part of the evidence considered in honouring Ing. Dr. Asiedu.
The organisation said the episode demonstrates the potential of public-interest journalism to expose challenges affecting vulnerable people and create opportunities for institutional response.
“You did not just build a toilet; you helped restore dignity”
Presenting the award, Dr. Joseph Kobla Wemakor praised Ing. Dr. Asiedu for taking action after the plight of the teenage girl and her family was brought to public attention.
“Ing. Dr. George Asiedu, I want to sincerely commend you for what you did in 2023 when you came across our report on the plight of that 15-year-old girl battling typhoid and living with her family without a toilet facility,” Dr. Wemakor said.
He noted that Ing. Dr. Asiedu could have simply read the report and moved on but instead recognised that there was an opportunity within his mandate to make a difference.
