In Ghana, drowning poses a critical public safety and national security issue, requiring an urgent shift in policy priorities and resource allocation. For too long, drowning has been perceived as isolated accidents or personal tragedies rather than a systemic public health problem. It is an urgent yet overlooked public health crisis in Ghana, claiming an estimated 1,100 to 1,400 lives each year. This mortality rate is driven by legislative and funding gaps and inadequate enforcement of water safety regulations. To address these challenges, the Global Health Advocacy Incubator would like to partner with local partners in Ghana to work in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global PROTECT framework and national drowning prevention priorities to drive sustainable policy changes.
The Global Health Advocacy Incubator is seeking civil society organizations to support advocacy efforts to reduce drowning in Ghana through sustainable policy change.
Project Objectives
Objective 1: Provide technical support to the Ministry of the Interior to explicitly include aquatic rescue and drowning prevention as a key function of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and to create the National Coordination Board for Drowning Prevention or equivalent body under that Ministry.
Objective 2: Support the review of the Ghana Maritime Authority Act 630, to expand its statutory oversight to include public recreational beaches, estuary zones and tidal areas, and enhance its mandate of enforcing water safety regulations and early warning systems in line with WHO best practices.
Objective 3: Engage with the Ministry of Finance to establish a sustainable funding system for drowning prevention with funds allocated to the Ghana Maritime Authority and Ghana National Fire Service.
Objective 4: Raise awareness and generate demand for sustainable drowning prevention policies through media advocacy.
Eligibility:
Who can apply for a grant?
Non-governmental organizations registered in Ghana can apply for this funding opportunity.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with relevant advocacy experience aimed at changing or implementing budget/health policies including but not limited to civil society organizations, educational institutions (for example universities) and independent policy institutions (‘think tanks’).
Applicants must be recognized legal registered entities capable of entering into contractual arrangements, receiving foreign funds for the proposed activities and assuming legal and financial obligations.
Responses to this RFP should demonstrate strengths, capabilities, and capacity to provide the following:
Experience with health policy advocacy, especially as it relates to increasing domestic health budgets and injury prevention policy.
Experience with direct advocacy with policymakers at all levels of government, especially the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health.
Experience working with community groups and the media to build demand for health interventions.
If applying for Objective 4, the selected grantee will have proven experience and knowledge in media advocacy, awareness raising including in the context of public health. Responses to this RFP should demonstrate strengths, capabilities, and capacity to provide the following:
Experience with media advocacy,
b. Experience with direct media engagement with policymakers at all levels of Government, especially the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health.
c. Experience working with community groups and the media to build demand for interventions by Government.
NGO applicants cannot be the recipients of financial support from any tobacco product manufacturer or the parent, subsidiary or affiliate of a tobacco product manufacturer including PMI IMPACT and Foundation for a Smoke-free World.
The grants program does not fund individuals or government agencies.
Instructions:
This request for proposals contains four objectives. Bidders can respond to one or all four objectives. Inapplication sheet, each objective is included as a separate tab. Please fill in the information for each objective you are applying for and leave the other tabs blank.
Please submit your completed application sheet, NGO registration certificate, completed Information Formfor Organizations, and your organization’s most recent audit documents to wrobinson@advocacyincubator.org.
Deadline:
The deadline to apply is September 18, 2026, 5:00pm EAT.
On April 20th, Joyous Ampurire and her daughter, Witness Akansasira, drowned when a canoe capsized on Lake Bunyonyi. Their deaths were deeply personal to one family, but the questions they raise are national. What makes a journey on Uganda's waters safer? Who is responsible for reducing risk? And what must change before another family carries the same loss?
In Ghana, drowning poses a critical public safety and national security issue, requiring an urgent shift in policy priorities and resource allocation. For too long, drowning has been perceived as isolated accidents or personal tragedies rather than a systemic public health problem. It is an urgent yet overlooked public health crisis in Ghana, claiming an estimated 1,100 to 1,400 lives each year. This mortality rate is driven by legislative and funding gaps and inadequate enforcement of water safety regulations. To address these challenges, the Global Health Advocacy Incubator would like to partner with local partners in Ghana to work in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global PROTECT framework and national drowning prevention priorities to drive sustainable policy changes.
