Day: March 20, 2024

Ahead of the 2024 World Water Day celebration, World Vision Ghana has renewed its commitment to ensuring that every child has access to safe water.

Mr Joshua Baidoo, Director for Integrated Programmes of World Vision, Ghana, said Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) played an essential role in ensuring children enjoyed life to the fullest, hence the commitment.

Mr Baidoo was speaking at a press soiree organised by World Vision Ghana in Accra on Tuesday.

The event was for World Vision Ghana and media organisations to bond well and pool resources and expertise together to drive and accelerate community and national development.

He said World Vision Ghana understood the issues of WASH and had prioritised the provision of safe drinking water in its programming for decades.

‘ The communities we work in now have access to clean and safe drinking water, reducing the incidence of water-borne illnesses such as diarrhoea and cholera, which can sometimes lead to child mortality,’ he said.

Mr Baidoo commended the m
edia as a great partner in raising the voices of the most vulnerable children, their families and communities that were desperately in need of clean and safe drinking water.

The Director said two years ago, World Vision Ghana launched a five-year strategic plan designed to expand its outreach to 3.3 million most vulnerable children with life-saving development interventions.

They are WASH services, quality education, health, food and nutrition, livelihood and income generations, child protection as well as environmental restoration concepts for Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration principles.

He said the strategy named: ‘Accelerating our Commitment to the Most Vulnerable Children’ also entailed systems strengthening at the national and sub-national level to facilitate the effective delivery of essential services for children and their families.

He said the strategy outlined three technical programmes as pillars for achieving the strategic objectives.

These are Healthy, Environment and Wellness (HEAL); Rea
ding, Improvement and Skills Enhancement (RISE) and Livelihood Improvement and Family Empowerment (LIFE).

He expressed the hope that the meeting would strengthen the collaborative efforts with the media and showcase World Vision’s technical competence in the various sectors.

Mr Robe L. Wamisho, Technical Programme Manager, WASH, said 85,200 people in communities were provided with access to safe drinking water while providing 19 health facilities with improved water facilities on-site.

He said 56,492 people gained access to improved household sanitation facilities with 77 communities certified as Open Defecation Free.

‘…38 schools with a total population of 11, 981 pupils were provided with clean water on their school premises and 27 schools also received waste bins for effective waste management,’ he added.

He said 298 water and sanitation management teams and 44 WASH school clubs were formed with 631 faith leaders involved in WASH programme activities.

Mr Samuel Gmalu, Programme Manager, Humanitarian
and Emergency Affairs, said 8,000 Asylum Seekers and host community members were reached with humanitarian assistance through the Burkina Faso Asylum Seekers Emergency Response.

He said 85 partners were trained in peace-building and conflict sensitivity programmes in the Gushiegu and Karaga Areas.

Mr Maxwell Amedi, Programme Manager, Food Security and Livelihoods said 290 new Saving for Transformation (S4T) Groups comprising 6,133 members caring for 15,394 children were formed and trained.

He said 4,792 Saving Group members were trained in financial literacy skills while training 1,072 individuals in additional livelihoods, including beekeeping, Shea, and groundnut processing was ongoing.

He said the LIFE technical programme sought to build and maintain peaceful, inclusive, and cohesive families and communities to promote love and justice for one million vulnerable children by 2025.

Mr Sasu Brako, Acting Programme Manager, RISE, said 4,2652 children were participating in unlock literacy interventions acr
oss World Vision Ghana’s programming areas.

He said 32,450 learners from kindergarten to primary three were reached with improved literacy instruction in 264 schools with 360 early childhood teachers and early grade teachers receiving in-service training in unlock literacy and learning roots methodology.

Source: Ghana News Agency

PATH Ghana, an international non-governmental organization has launched a group called ‘Women at PATH Ghana’ for its women staff to invest in them and inspire progress.

The group launched as part of the celebration of the International Women’s Day comprised of all women who work in the PATH Ghana office.

‘Women at PATH Ghana’ formed part of PATH’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy, recognizing the needs of special groups of workers.

This signifies a noteworthy achievement in the organization’s unwavering dedication to empowering women and advancing progress.

It was on the theme ‘Invest in Women, Inspire Progress.’

Dr. Patience Cofie, the Country Director of PATH Ghana, expressed her heartfelt appreciation to the leadership and staff of PATH for the tremendous support shown towards the launch of ‘Women at PATH.’

‘Women at PATH’ seeks to advance gender equality and empowerment of women and create an inclusive environment where women could thrive and contribute meaningfully to building a soci
ety where health is available and accessible to all.’

Speaking on inclusivity as a fundamental value, the Country Director emphasized the significance of both men and women in advocating for gender equality and advancing women’s rights within the organization.

Mrs. Aline Adamou Barry, the DEI Program Assistant, said the objectives of ‘Women at PATH,’ include having a comprehensive plan to deal with gender issues, find a balance between work and personal life, and help women progress in their careers.

Mrs Barry emphasized the importance of creating a welcoming and supportive environment where women could learn from mentors, develop new skills, and connect with others.

Mrs Vera Karikari Bediako, the Principal Programme Officer, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, speaking on behalf of the Chief Director, congratulated PATH for the initiative and encouraged other organizations to emulate them.

While appreciating the Country Director of PATH for her leadership qualities called for the need to
establish a gender policy and a mentorship programme for young ladies.

Dr. Kwadwo Asante Afari, representing the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative asked PATH to establish a special space for women to refresh themselves and breastfeed their babies. ‘Continue to be a good partner in health research and interventions,’ he added.

Mrs. Sophia Ampofo, representing the Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME), Ghana Health Service, presenting a poem titled, ‘leave her alone,’ urged women to embrace their individual journeys and fulfill their purpose in their generation.

PATH is an international non-governmental organization with a presence in 70 countries. PATH Ghana has been active for 15 years with several interventions in maternal, newborn and child health as well as non-communicable diseases, vaccines, and health policy advocacy.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana’s International Electro-Technical Commission National Committee has held its Annual General Meeting and Conference in Accra, bringing together stakeholders from different institutions to deliberate on its work of developing standards and impact on the country.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, in an address on his behalf, underscored the important role of the Electro-technical Committee in developing standards to ensure the country’s socio-economic development.

He said the issue of standards was even more critical now in the face of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which provided a huge market of more than 1.3 billion people for the benefit of the country.

He said adherence to standards would allow Ghana to benefit tremendously from exports to neighbouring African countries to enhance economic growth and at the same time ensure that citizens were not short-changed with sub-standard goods.

The Minister commended the National Committee for its sterling performa
nce and urged them to build on it.

Mr Danladi Bukari, the President of the IEC National Committee, said standards were critical as they allowed us to meet evolving trends in the industry and to ensure that the country maintained and met the demands of nations.

He said the committee has the expertise to develop new standards and it was necessary to bring stakeholders together at such a forum to take stock of what is happening and what their needs are to be able to begin work on new standards to benefit the country as a whole.

Again, standards also help us to create economic opportunities for our people all the week, I mean cutting across agriculture industry, service, what have you. So when we are able to get the right standards, what it means is that we are able to harmonise our weights at the continental level and also at the global level, to the extent that if you take a service or boost from Ghana, because it meets a certain standards, you are able to trade that service and goods in other jurisdictions,
which is very good for economic development. So for the benefits of standards

The Deputy Coordinator of the Ghana Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP) said the forum allowed the various stakeholders to go through some of the things the IEC National Committee had done and their impact on the nation.

He said standards played a key role in every facet of the economy, right from finance, through engineering as they were very critical in the country’s decisions.

‘As we evolve in terms of economic development and social growth, there are changes that are happening and there’s a need for us to make sure that we have standards that allow us to streamline those changes so much that we can stay relevant within the committee of nations.

‘So when we can get the right standards, what it means is that we can harmonise our weights at the continental level and also at the global level, to the extent that if you take a service or goods from Ghana because it meets certain standards, you can trade that service and g
oods in other jurisdictions, which is very good for economic development. So for the benefits of standards, I think the list is endless,’ he said.

Ghana is an Associate Member of the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) and has enjoyed some benefits, including increased awareness and use of IEC International Standards, helped by removing technical trade barriers and also use of the IEC Conformity Assessment Systems.

Source: Ghana News Agency

By Charity Nginyu

A dark cloud descended upon Foumbot in the West Region of Cameroon as violence erupted, claiming the life of a young individual amidst clashes between rival factions.

According to reports, tensions prevailed in Foumbot for some time, culminating in confrontations between groups of delinquents.

Eyewitnesses recount that the victim, attempted to quell the tensions as approached the belligerent group only to meet a swift and untimely demise. Despite his noble intentions, he fell victim to the violence perpetrated by the delinquents.

Following the tragedy, residents of Foumbot have expressed outrage and grief, lamenting the loss of one of their own to the senseless violence that has gripped their town.

Many have equally expressed frustration vis-a-vis the gendarmerie, as they blame them for failing to intervene despite being alerted to the escalating clashes.

The main reason that led to the confrontation was not given at press time but fights like this are common in this area and often lea
d to bloody outcomes.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Ghana’s economy grew 2.9 per cent growth in 2023 lower than to 3.8 per cent recorded in 2022, the Ghana Statistical Service said on Wednesday.

The Statistical Service indicated that the last quarter of 2023, recorded the highest real GDP growth rate, which was 3.8 per cent, the same growth rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

In terms of nominal values, GSS noted that the country’s GDP, including Oil and Gas estimate at constant 2013 prices for the fourth quarter of 2023 was GHS50,645.7 million (about 50 billion) compared to GHS48,796.8 million (about 48bn) in the fourth quarter of 2022.

On sectoral basis, the services sector recorded the highest growth of 5.1 per cent, followed by the agriculture sector at 4.5 per cent, while industry sector recorded a GDP growth of 1.6 per cent.

The Statistical Service noted that this was the first time in about 11 years that four of the 22 sub-sectors (Crops; Trade, Repair of Vehicles and Household Goods; Mining and Quarrying and Manufacturing) have accounted f
or more than 50 percent of Ghana’s GDP.

Meanwhile, Ms Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has challenged the government to work towards achieving a five per cent GDP growth.

‘What we want to see is a dynamic economy; we want to see Ghana back to a five per cent growth or more, and we believe that this is achievable,’ she said, during a media engagement with some selected journalists in Accra.

Source: Ghana News Agency