Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) has honoured Ing. Dr. George Asiedu, Coordinator of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA-SWP), with the 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.
HRRG also cited his response to a 2023 report about a teenage girl and her family in Gbegbeyise in the Greater Accra Region, which subsequently resulted in the provision of a toilet facility for the family.
The award was presented to Ing. Dr. Asiedu on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, following the inaugural presentation of the HRRG Global RightsShield Awards in Abuja, Nigeria.
He received the honour under Category Two of the 2026 awards programme.
The inaugural awards were held 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 at the Abuja Continental Hotel from July 14 to 17, 2026.
2023 report and sanitation intervention
According to HRRG, a key consideration in honouring 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 highlighted the plight of a teenage girl who was battling typhoid fever while living with her family in Gbegbeyise without a toilet facility.
Published by GhanaWeb and subsequently republished by other media platforms, the report drew attention to the family’s sanitation challenges and their implications for health and human dignity.
HRRG said the report subsequently came to the attention of GAMA-SWP, after which Ing. Dr. Asiedu and his team responded to the family’s situation.
The project subsequently intervened, resulting in the provision of a toilet facility for the teenage girl and her family.
HRRG said documentary records relating to the original report and the subsequent intervention formed part of the evidence considered in deciding to honour Ing. Dr. Asiedu.
The organisation said the case demonstrated how public-interest journalism could bring challenges affecting vulnerable people to wider attention and potentially facilitate institutional responses.
“You did not just build a toilet; you helped restore dignity.”
Presenting the award, Dr. Wemakor commended Ing. Dr. Asiedu for responding to the family’s situation after the publication of the report.
“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,” he said.
Dr. Wemakor said Ing. Dr. Asiedu could have simply read the report and moved on but instead recognised an opportunity within his mandate to make a difference.
“You did not simply read the story and move on. You saw a vulnerable family in distress and recognised that there was something within your mandate that you could do to change their situation. You acted, and that action made a real difference,” he said.
He described the intervention as one of the most rewarding experiences in his work as a human rights journalist.
“For me, that intervention remains one of the most rewarding moments in my journey as a human rights journalist. I have written many stories, but there is something fundamentally different when a story does not end with publication—when it moves from the pages of a newspaper into action and ultimately changes the living conditions of a vulnerable family,” Dr. Wemakor said.
He added: “You did not just build a toilet. You helped restore dignity. You helped reduce a health risk. You gave that family something many of us take for granted—the basic right to live in a safe and dignified environment.”
“That is why this recognition is deeply deserved,” he said.
Media and institutional collaboration
Dr. Wemakor also highlighted the importance of collaboration among journalists, civil society organisations and public institutions in addressing social challenges.
“The story of that young girl reminds us that journalists, civil society organisations and public institutions do not have to work in isolation,” he said.
“When journalism identifies a problem, when institutions are willing to listen, and when leaders are prepared to act, extraordinary things can happen.”
He said Ing. Dr. Asiedu’s response demonstrated the potential impact when media reporting and institutional responsibility converged.
“Your response showed us what is possible when those forces come together,” he added.
Leadership in sanitation and development
HRRG said the award was not based solely on the 2023 intervention but also on Ing. Dr. Asiedu’s broader professional contribution to the sanitation and water sector.
As Coordinator of GAMA-SWP, he has been involved in initiatives focused on water supply, sanitation, hygiene, behavioural change and community resilience across urban and peri-urban communities.
According to HRRG, his professional career spans more than three decades of engineering and development experience.
He holds an Executive Master’s in Business Administration and is a globally certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
HRRG said GAMA-SWP had also received recognition for development and engineering interventions, including the “Most Impactful WASH Project of the Decade” recognition by CONIWAS, an Engineering Excellence Award from the Ghana Institution of Engineering, and recognition as 2nd Runner-Up Project Manager of the Year by the Ghana Chapter of the Project Management Institute.
The organisation said those professional achievements, together with the documented 2023 intervention, demonstrated the breadth of Ing. Dr. Asiedu’s contribution to the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector.
Sanitation and human dignity
HRRG said the recognition was also rooted in its belief that access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and a healthy living environment was closely connected to human dignity and fundamental rights.
It said the 2023 case provided a practical illustration of how inadequate sanitation could affect vulnerable people and how institutional intervention could help address such challenges.
According to the organisation, the family’s situation could have remained largely unnoticed had the journalist’s report not brought it to public attention.
The subsequent intervention resulted in the provision of a toilet facility for the family.
HRRG said the case underscored the importance of responsive leadership and collaboration among the media, civil society, and public institutions in addressing social and development challenges.
HRRG Global RightsShield Awards
The HRRG Global RightsShield Awards were inaugurated in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2026 to recognise individuals and institutions whose leadership, service, and achievements contribute to human rights, democratic governance, justice, civic freedoms, diplomacy, sustainable development, and human dignity across Africa and beyond.
The programme was initially launched as the HRRG Global RightsCon Awards before being rebranded as the HRRG Global RightsShield Awards to establish a stronger and independent identity for the international honours programme.
The 2026 awards were presented under the theme, “Championing Human Rights and Democratic Renewal.”
Other inaugural honourees included President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, Prof. Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ms. Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri of Spaces for Change West Africa, Joshua Elikplim Adjei, Eminence Lead International LBG, and international digital rights organisation Access Now and its RightsCon Global Team.
About HRRG
Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) is a globally recognized human rights and media-focused civil society organisation committed to advancing human dignity, social justice, democratic accountability, civic participation, and sustainable development through advocacy, journalism, research, capacity building, and strategic partnerships in Ghana, across Africa, and beyond.
Through the HRRG Global RightsShield Awards, the organisation seeks to recognise exceptional leadership, service, and transformative contributions to humanity.
Watch the award winning documentary here:
