Day: February 9, 2024

Muslim World League, an International Islamic Non-Governmental Organisation under the Government of Saudi Arabia, has donated some relief supplies to the Akosombo Dam flood victims in the Volta Region.

A total of 1000 flood victims from Mepe, Battor, Sogakope and Adidome in the North, South and Central Tongu districts benefited from the supplies, which included bags of rice and sugar, milk, cooking oil, sugar, mackerel and spaghetti.

Dr Mohammed Bashir Adam, the Country Director of the League, said the gesture was through collaboration and a shared commitment to the well-being of those communities.

It underscored the Organisation’s core mandate of supporting people facing adversity and emphasised its commitment to alleviating suffering without discrimination.

Dr Adam said the League’s approach to disaster relief was characterised by its dedication to the principles of centrism and moderation, eschewing extremism, violence and exclusion.

He said the organisation extended its reach to anyone in need, rega
rdless of their religious or ethnic background as it recognised the importance of humanitarian aid.

Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, commended the Organisation for the gesture, saying it would go a long way to alleviate the plight of the people.

He said measures were being taken to resettle them and restore their livelihoods, adding that the Government was trying to provide resettlement for the victims to lessen their suffering.

Dr Letsa revealed that the Ministry of Housing was working towards providing the resettlement, while the ministries of Agriculture and Aquaculture would be visiting the area to discuss ways to restore their livelihoods.

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, expressed gratitude to the League for the support.

He said the second impacted person’s resettlement site was completed and slated to open on Saturday, February 10, 2024.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Tema General Hospital documented a total of 11 deaths among children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), popularly known as Kwashiokor, in 2023.

The Hospital is the only referral health facility in Tema and its environs with an in-patient care facility for the management of SAM among children under the age of five.

Ms Joyce Asare Kissi, the Head of the Nutrition Unit at the Hospital, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Thursday.

The deaths were not only in-patient care for Severe Acute malnourished children but also those who had been discharged but died within a few days, she said.

The 11 were referrals from other facilities that needed advance care, comprising three each from Tema Newtown and Kpone-Katamanso, one each from Ashaiman Township, Ashaiman-Jericho, Dawhenya, and Tema Communities 25 and 22.

Ms Kissi said Kwashiokor was still a health problem among children aged zero to five, which some unfortunately attributed to spiritual and cultural beliefs.

That de
layed seeking medical care for the children until the situation worsened and other medical conditions set it, said noted.

The Nutritionist, therefore, advised parents and carers to have time for their children and feed them with the needed nutritional foods to ensure good health and prevent kwashiorkor.

Falling victims to the disease put them at a higher risk of getting some childhood illnesses, which may result in death.

She advised parents whose children were being managed for Kwashiokor at home with therapeutic milk, or the Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, to stick to the instructions of their nutritionists to prevent a relapse, complications, and death.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The families of Shai states in the Greater Accra Region have called on the government and security agencies to intervene in the encroachment and illegal sale of their family stool land in Kodiabe and its environs.

The Shai states comprised of three divisions: Hiowe-Doryumu, Lekpeje-Kordiaba and Hiowe-Agomeda.

Jaase Tetteh Adabang II, Head of the Saisi Clan, Kordiabe, said in a press briefing that the intervention of the appropriate authorities would restore order and avoid an unforeseen situations in the community.

Jaase Adabang alleged that some people, who hailed from Manya-Dodowa, were illegally selling their lands in the communities.

He advised the public not to buy any land from anyone in the area other than the rightful families and that they did that at their own risk.

Jaase Adabang said the current land size of the Terkpehnor Agblezey family was over 150,000 acres.

He said the plan covered lands in Jorpanya all through the entirety of Kordiabe, Agomeda, Luom, Bondase, and portions of Doryumu.

S
ource: Ghana News Agency

Mr Francis Ennin, the Sefwi-Wiawso District Manager, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), says the active membership of the Scheme Lt increased from 97,000 in 2022 to 124,051 in 2023 within the area.

He said 103,049 of the total number paid for their own registration while the remaining 21,002 were supported by others with the registration process.

Mr Ennin attributed the increase in active membership to the support from individuals who normally paid for others to get registered, and various community outreach programmes by benevolent individuals and organisations.

He appealed for more support to those who could not afford to register onto the Scheme to ensure their access to quality healthcare services.

On some of their challenges in service delivery, he mentioned intermittent network glitches during the registration process.

‘But the Government has been supportive by providing vehicles for our staff to move around to register residents in the area,’ Mr Ennin said.

He encouraged members to always
renew their expired cards by using the myNHIS mobile application to ensure they continuously accessed services by the Scheme, while reducing congestion in the offices.

He said their continuous engagements with health providers had helped to reduce illegal charges and commended the staff for their sustained support throughout the years.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Chance for Children, a humanity centered non-profit entity has begun a project to reach out to school drop outs within the New Takoradi Community.

The ‘street-community’ approach of reaching out to street-connected children who had dropped out of school and engaged in child labour during school hours was meant to restore educational hope to these ones while enhancing their lifestyle.

‘This initiative is giving these children the chance to go back to school through our school preparatory programme facilitated by our team of qualified Social Workers’, Nana Osei Baafi, the Programmes Manager told the Ghana News Agency.

He added that the project was a pilot project for 30 children this year in New Takoradi Lower Town and would be scaled up after assessment at the end of the year.

The children, he announced, would be exposed to phonics, literacy, numeracy, creativity, and life skills.

‘Each child will also enjoy one hot meal a day from Monday to Friday, and will be enrolled back to school after the 10 we
eks preparatory programme, and be given educational support in the form of payment of school fees, buying of exercise books and textbooks, school uniforms and school bags’.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Christopher Lartey, the Principal Programmes Officer, Department of Children, has called on professionals to refrain from taking advantage of their positions to engage in sexual activities with the vulnerable in society.

It was imperative for all professionals to abstain from using their ‘gowns’ for sexual exploitation or abuse since doing so was against nature and national laws, he said.

Mr Lartey, at a training to build the capacity of the Regional Child Protection Committee in Ho, stated that victims of such acts suffered emotional distress and lost of faith in the profession of the perpetrators.

The majority of people, unfortunately, did not take sexual exploitation and abuse seriously, giving room for weaker members of society to be taken advantage of, which was unlawful, Mr Lartey said.

He told the Ghana News Agency that the Child and Family Welfare Policy placed a high value on traditional and religious leaders as essential partners in child protection and, therefore, urged them to assist in pr
otecting children.

He said safeguarding children’s rights was the Department’s responsibility, and that it would keep working to provide an atmosphere that allowed children to reach their full potential to ensure a secured future for them.

Mr Augustus Awity, the Chief Director, Volta Regional Coordinating Council, noted that members of the Committee needed to develop their capacity to carry out their mandate effectively.

He tasked the Committee to do everything within its power to advance and defend children’s rights for the benefit of the nation.

Mr Israel Akrobortu, the Volta Regional Director, Department of Children, said they were poised to ensuring that the rights and wellbeing of children were promoted and protected.

Madam Eyram Thywill Kpe, Volta Regional Director, Department of Gender, said gender relations had been identified as one of the main contributing factors to child marriage.

UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund came out with the Gender Transformative Accelerators to change gen
der relations to address these relationships and stop child marriage.

Madam Kpe revealed that due to Ghana’s constant handling of child marriage, it was one of the 12 countries implementing the global programme to tackle the issue.

The country still needed to do more to combat child marriage because one in five girls currently got married before turning 18 years, she added.

Source: Ghana News Agency