Author: admin

Posted on

Assemblies urged to invest in peacebuilding and conflict prevention

Yunyoo (NER), Jan 29, GNA – Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies have been urged to prioritise and invest in peacebuilding to prevent violent conflicts and instability and promote sustainable development.

Participants at a forum said apart from mainstreaming ‘peace-building and promotion’ into the Medium-Term Development Plans of Municipal and District Assemblies, it was imperative for the Assemblies to make budgetary allocations towards strategic implementation of the programmes.

This, they said, would help the Assemblies to carry out activities to educate and sensitise the public especially youth of conflict prone communities, to appreciate the need to employ non-violence approaches to settling disputes.

The forum was organised by the Good Governance, Justice and Peace of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO) at Yunyoo in the Yunyoo-Nasuan District of the North East Region, as part of the implementation of the Integrated Peacebuilding for Improved Food and Nutrition Supply (IN-PEACE) project sponsored by MISEREOR.

The goal of the project was to support the district assemblies to mainstream peacebuilding into their Medium-Term Development Plans as well as implement them, to prevent conflict from occurring.

The project being implemented in 16 communities in Bawku Municipal in the Upper East Region, and Yunyoo-Nasuan and Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri Districts in the North East Region was to strengthen local structures at the grassroots level to carry out peacebuilding activities through non-violent approaches.

Mr Joseph Bangu, the Director of Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate, NABOCADO, explained that apart from the loss of lives and property and the halt in productivity and economic activities that occured during violent conflicts, the quantity of money the government through the assemblies spend on security agencies to ensure law and order was huge.

“For instance, at the Bunkpurugu area, when the conflict started it was difficult for people to go to their farms or do businesses and it became difficult for them to feed,” he said.

He noted that it would be wise on the part of the assemblies to spend less in carrying out conflict preventive activities to enable communities and individuals to use dialogue, mediation and other nonviolent approaches to resolve conflict than spending developmental resources to maintain peace.

Mr David Issaka, an Evaluation and Monitoring Expert, noted that the assemblies needed to collaborate with the traditional authorities to carry out inter-communal, inter-ethnic and inter-clan youth activities such as sports that would bring the youth together and added that it would help foster unity and peaceful coexistence.

Assistant Superintendent of Immigration, Mr Elvis Sarfo, Second in Command at the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo Command, urged the assembly to provide income generating activities that would enable the youth to engage in meaningful ventures.

Mr Konlan Bitian, the District Chief Executive for the area, lauded NABOCADO for their support over the years and noted that the Assembly had mainstreamed peacebuilding into their Medium-Term Development Plan and provision had been made to train selected youth on peacebuilding.

 

Posted on

Chieftaincy and land, major drivers of conflict in northern Ghana

Bunkpurugu (NE/R), Jan 28, GNA – Lack of a clear roadmap for chieftaincy succession and poor land tenure administration are major drivers of violent conflicts in many traditional areas in northern Ghana.

Participants at a forum in Bunkpurugu in the North East Region said chieftaincy succession and land disputes continued to dominate conflict issues in many communities even though political activities and theft were contributory factors.

Many traditional systems did not have a documented form of succession with regard to the chieftaincy system and ownership of lands had generated disagreements leading to violence, destruction of property and loss of lives, they noted.

The stakeholders, including traditional authorities, security agencies, and assembly members, made these known at an engagement with the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District Assembly on the implementation of the peace building component of the Assembly’s Medium-Term Development Plan.

The forum was organised by the Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO) as part of the Integrated Peace building for Improved Food and Nutrition Supply (IN-PEACE) project sponsored by MISEREOR.

Naba Haji Abuba Nasinmong, the Paramount Chief of Bunkpurugu Traditional Area, said chieftaincy and land disputes had, over the years, retarded development and deepened the poverty cycle of the people and called for support to address them.

He said the youth were usually targeted to perpetuate violence and advocated the institution and training of youth peace councils to detect early warning signs of conflicts and resolve them before they escalated.

Mr Joseph Lonknaan, the District Chief Executive (DCE), applauded NABOCADO and its partners for the peace-building initiative and said women and the youth were most vulnerable during times of war.

He appealed to the various stakeholders, including traditional authorities and religious bodies, to use their wide platforms and influence to preach peace.

Apart from the mainstreaming of peace-building into the medium term development plan of the Assembly, the Business Advisory Centre had also trained about 200 youth in income generating activities, the DCE said.

“When the youth are engaged in economic activities and generate income, which helps them to put up something, they would not want to fight and destroy it,” he said.

Mr Joseph Bangu, the Director, Good Governance, Justice and Peace, said the project was being implemented in 16 communities in three administrative districts of the Diocese – Bawku Municipal in the Upper East Region, Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri, and Yunyoo-Nasuan districts.

He said the project sought to strengthen local structures at the grassroots to carry out peace building campaigns as well as support the assemblies to implement the peace-building component of their Medium-Term Development Plans.

“While the state security look at peace making, we are looking at peace-building, which is more of a preventive approach and we have trained community peace agents as well as members of the assemblies and security agencies on all aspects of peace-building to detect early warning signs and respond appropriately.”

When there was peace, food production would increase and improve the livelihood of the people, he said.

 

Posted on

UER records 5534 teenage pregnancies in the first 10 months of 2021

Bolgatanga, Nov 26, GNA-A total of 5,534 girls under 20 years, in the Upper East Region, got pregnant in the first 10 months of 2021, the Catholic Health Service of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocesan Development Organization (NABOCADO) has said.







Mr Peter Akudugu Ayamba, the Primary Healthcare Coordinator of NABOCADO who made this known at a stakeholder forum organized by NABOCADO in Bolgatanga, said the figures were taken from the Ghana Health Service represented 15.4 per cent of the population of girls below 20 years in the Region.

The stakeholder engagement which brought together representatives from the Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, Departments of Children and Gender, Department of Social Welfare, Community Development and District Assemblies, among others was part of efforts of the Catholic Church to work with stakeholders to curb the rising cases of teenage pregnancy and child marriage in the diocese.

It was also part of the implementation of a three year project under ‘the promoting child health initiative’ and sponsored by the Kindermissionswerk, a German based organization.

It is being piloted in 20 communities and 60 schools in four districts of tbe Upper East Region, Nabdam, Bongo, Kassena-Nankana West Districts and Builsa North Municipality.

Mr Ayamba said child marriage was also prevalent in the region with current figures revealing that 13.5 per cent and 34.8 per cent of girls in the region got married before 15 and 18 years respectively.

He said teenage pregnancy and child marriage were a violation of the universal declaration on human rights and a dent on the efforts at attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The Child Health Project being implemented by the Catholic Church is to leverage synergies towards safeguarding teenage girls against pregnancies and early marriage”, he added.

He said the project would collaborate with active and identified community groups and stakeholders to prioritize and intensify sensitization on adolescent reproductive health education at both schools and communities.

Dr Joseph Ayembilla, the Human Development Coordinator, NABOCADO, explained that the incessant increase in the number young girls getting pregnant and getting married before turning 18 was worrisome and urgent attention was needed to address the issue.

He said there were several laws and conventions both national and international that sought to protect the interest, growth and development of the child, however, teenage pregnancy and child marriage continued to be the bane in achieving the set targets.

Dr Ayembilla said “over the years, poverty, ignorance and socio- cultural practices had continued to push vulnerable girls into giving themselves out to men and getting pregnant and were sometimes forced into marriage”.

He therefore called on stakeholders to prioritize teenage pregnancy and child marriage and support efforts geared at addressing the canker.

Reverend Fr Francis Adagyine, the Diocesan Child Protection Coordinator, said the youth were the future of the Church and country and stakeholders needed to support all efforts to reverse the negative trend.

Mr George Awuni, the Deputy Regional Director in charge of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) applauded the Catholic Church for its efforts over the years with regards to child rights promotion and noted that when the project received the needed backing, it would contribute to reducing teenage pregnancy and child marriage in communities.
Posted on

Health and Education Facility Committees trained to enhance service delivery

Monitoring and Management Committees in the Health and Education facilities under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga have been trained as part of efforts to ensure community participation and quality service delivery.

The community-level training, under the Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate, is to train the committees in 11 health facilities and 20 schools within the diocese.

The project, with funding from the Hungary Helps Programme, is aimed at empowering the committees with knowledge and skills to act as citizens monitoring groups and a linkage between the facilities and their respective communities for effective collaboration and improved service delivery.

Each Committee comprises major stakeholders in the community including the chief, leaders of women and youth groups, assembly members and staff of the facility, among others and they are to monitor, track and demand quality service from the facilities and report to the communities on the happenings at the facilities.

Addressing members of the health committee at St Patrick Health Centre, Wulugu, Mr Joseph Bangu, the Director of Good Governance, Justice and Peace, explained that the Hungary Helps Programme was a collective approach aimed at increasing and strengthening the infrastructure base in health and education and service delivery through advocacy and capacity building.

He said the facility committees training which was a step-down approach would empower the major stakeholders in the various communities to work with the management of the health and school facilities and the beneficiary communities to enhance service delivery and effective collaboration.

The Director explained that the citizens’ monitoring groups would use a scorecard to rank the performance of the facilities, identify service delivery gaps and the results would be used to engage policy makers to address challenges to quality education and healthcare, especially maternal and child health.

“The Committee’s main function will be to periodically come and track the reimbursement of NHIS claims, number of beds, safe deliveries, and state of the structure, among other essential services so that at the end of it we collectively sit down and see how the facility is performing,” he added.

Mr Bangu said the project was on a pilot basis for a year and plans were in place to scale it up to some public institutions and added that the Catholic Church was providing access to health and education opportunities to rural dwellers.
Mr Peter Akudugu Ayamba, the Primary Healthcare Coordinator of the Diocesan Health Services, noted that NABODCADO and its partners had over the years contributed to improving health care delivery within the diocese, especially in rural communities.

“If you look at the location of the health facilities, you would realize that we are not there to compete with Ghana Health Service but we are complementing government’s effort at providing essential services to hard-to-reach communities,” he stated.

Reverend Samuel Ngumah and Mr Theophilus Abolga, facilitators of the training, urged members of the committees to avoid partisan politics and work to enhance the wellbeing of their people.

Mr Bismarck Adu-Agyapong, the Health Promotion Officer, Ghana Health Service, West Mamprusi Municipality lauded NABOCADO and Hungary Helps Programme for the training and said it would build a cordial relationship between members of the communities and the service providers.

Posted on

Advocacy training for Catholic Dev’t Organisation ongoing in Bolagatanga

Bolgatanga, Oct. 8, GNA – The Navrongo- Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO) has begun a three-day workshop to equip its workers with advocacy skills to facilitate the implementation of programmes in Health and Education.

 
The workshop, being held in Bolgatanga, is funded by the Hungarian Government and organised by the Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate, bringing together the Organisation’s 16 advocacy teams.

Reverend Father Lawrence Azure, the Vicar General of the Diocese, at the opening, said there was the need to ensure key actors in the area of Education and Health were well prepared for improved service delivery.

“As a major component of this project, NABOCADO, through the Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate, seeks to implement advocacy interventions aimed at ensuring that our government fulfills its God-given mandate to our people in the specific area of Health and Education” he said.

“Knowing very well the lackadaisical attitude and the ineptitude that at times characterise our work, it is, therefore, very critical that unless some key actors in Education and Health are put on their toes, they will renege on their responsibilities and when this happens, it is the poor masses who will suffer from deprivation of health and knowledge”.

Mr Joseph Bangu, the Director of Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate, said the training was to prepare the participants for the groundwork at the community level, and offer support to 11 health facilities and 20 schools in the Upper East and North East Regions.

He said the workshop, which was directly under the advocacy component of the Hungary Help Project, aimed at strengthening the capacities of the communities to track how resources were used, particularly the Capitation Grant and related policies of education and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Mr Bismarck Akasoe, the Assistant Health Director, bemoaned the rejection of postings by health workers to rural communities and the delay in the re-imbursement of the NHIS.

“The Catholic facilities are located in rural communities and whenever health professionals are posted to these areas, they find their way out to the cities, depriving the people in the rural area the needed health care,” he said.
Mr Akasoe said the acquisition and implementation of the advocacy skills would help facilitate and ensure health workers stayed in those communities to offer the needed services.

Reverend Sister Bernardine Pemii, the Regional Manager of the Catholic Education Unit, called for the timely disbursement of the Capitation Grant to help maintain the school furniture and make available basic learning materials to improve teaching and learning.

That, she said, would increase enrolment and retention, which the Diocese sought to achieve.

Posted on

NABOCADO provides Gorogo community with solar irrigation facility

The Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Office (NABOCADO), has constructed a solar mechanized farm for rural women in Gorogo in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

The intervention is to empower rural women by providing them with an alternative livelihood, through irrigation farming, to enhance their income levels and reduce rural-urban migration.

Speaking at the commissioning of the project in Gorogo, NABOCADO’s Human Development Coordinator, Dr. Joseph Ayembilla, described the project as a game-changer and appealed to other investors to support the socio-economic development of women to end poverty.

“The project is targeting the children by empowering their mothers to focus on cultivating local vegetables for improved food security and nutrition. The excess vegetables cultivated would be sold to generate income for the women to provide other basic necessities in the home.

The project covers 18 communities across the diocese and targets 12 communities for the provision of solar mechanized water systems for irrigated vegetable cultivation.

“If women are supported to cultivate vegetables without cost all-year-round, our children will be healthy; their performance will improve, and it will improve the human resource capital of the area,” he said.

Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, Alfred Agyenta, urged the women to eschew negative behaviours and work in synergy to achieve their common goal.

He expressed his gratitude to all donors who supported NABOCADO to provide the solar irrigation equipment and appealed to the women to take proper care of the facilities.

Some women told Citi News the project will help alleviate the poverty in the area.

Diana Zong said, “the benefits from this irrigation farm is that vegetables grown here are organic, and that protects us against diseases and makes us healthy. We can also sell some vegetables to support our children in school and reserve some for the upkeep of the home.”

“Initially, we used to cook dry vegetables which were sometimes tasteless, but with this irrigation farm, we will have fresh vegetables all-year-round to eat and remain healthier than before,” Mrs. Joana stated.

Posted on

CARITAS Ghana donates to flood victims in Upper East

CARITAS Ghana, a Catholic Charity organization, in collaboration with the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has donated some assorted items to support victims of flood in the Navrongo- Bolgatanga Diocese.
The Catholic Diocese covers Upper East and North East Regions.

The items valued at Gh¢70,000, included 40 boxes of Vegetable cooking oil, 30 boxes of mackerel, 25 boxes of tomato paste, 100 bags of rice, and five bags of gari.

The rest were 23 bags of sugar, 40 containers of spaghetti, five bags of beans, 100 pieces of sleeping mats, 100 pieces of blankets as well as eight bales of used clothing and a cheque for Gh¢10,000.

Mr Samuel Zan Akolgo, the Executive Secretary, CARITAS Ghana, explained that both Caritas International and Caritas Ghana procured the relief items to support the victims.

Mr Akolgo regretted the negative impact of the perennial floods on the victims and appealed to corporate bodies to intervene as cholera and other health epidemics may be looming if sources of water were polluted.

He said: “We also want to appeal to organizations to come on board to support the flood victims through Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) because they are on the ground and know how to respond in terms of this kind of calamity”.

Most Reverend Alfred Agyenta, the Catholic Bishop of the Navrongo -Bolgatanga Diocese showed his appreciation to the GCBC for the support and said the Diocese Disaster Management Committee, which was set up to coordinate the flood victims, would ensure that the items were rightfully distributed.

Most Rev. Agyenta commended the GCBC and thanked the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for his recent visit to the flood areas where he made some donations to the affected persons.

He called on government and benevolent bodies to come to the aid of the victims since most of them lost their houses and livelihoods.

“We should also prepare the grounds for the lean harvest as thousands of acres of farms were destroyed by the floods and affected people would need assistance with food.

Meanwhile, an assessment of the extent of the disaster made by the Department of Good Governance, Justice and Peace under the Catholic Diocese of Navrongo- Bolgatanga and presented to the Diocese indicated that about 19,013 people and 11,487 farms in seven parishes were affected by the rains.

The affected areas were Bawku West 5,279 people, Nabdam 1,287 people, Talensi 1,487 people, West Mamprusi 5,287 people, Bindri district, 4, 726 people and Kassena-Nankana East 39.

Posted on

Catholic Diocese launches strategic development policy

The Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese has launched a five-year Diocesan Strategic Plan and Development Policy to enhance the Church’s mission of providing for the spiritual and physical needs to the people.

The two documents would guide the activities of all the 20 Parishes in the diocese.

The goal is to reposition the church to continue to render vital services that would help to transform the lives of the people.

The Most Reverend Alfred Agyenta, the Diocesan Bishop, said the documents encompassed the plan of action of the various parishes, pastoral care and human development departments.

This, he added, would enable the Church to achieve its mission of combining the spread of the gospel with the socio-economic development of the people. The documents were going to help tackle the development needs of the people – aid them to become self-reliant and to add momentum to the drive towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The Diocese is confronted with a perpetuation of development disparities between and within the Parishes. “The Diocese is faced with worsening poverty, conflicts, food and nutrition insecurity, low access to quality education and health, high illiteracy, low access to potable water, poor sanitation and waste management, continuing deterioration of the ecosystems on which the people depend for their livelihood.”

Bishop Agyenta said it would require total commitment of all the stakeholders and individuals to implement the plan. He called for strong backing and cooperation from organizations to achieve inclusive and improved wellbeing of the population.

He encouraged the Parish Priests to involve their members in the implementation, to promote transparency and accountability. It was also the way forward to achieve sustainability. Presenting the Development Policy, Professor David Millar, President of the Millar Institute for Trans-disciplinary and Development Studies, said conflict management, climate change, sanitation, women, youth empowerment, disability issues and the aged among had all been incorporated in the policy.

They had focused priority on building the capacity of the human resources for sustainable socio-economic development. Mr. Mahammadu Azonko, the Chief Director of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), applauded the leadership of the Diocesan Church for the invaluable services it had been rendering to the people in the region.

“It is an acknowledged fact that no single church has complemented the efforts of government in the provision of social services more than the Catholic Church.” He pledged that the RCC was going to continue to work with the Church to make things better for the people.

Posted on

Youth Entrepreneurial Skills Development Project Unveiled

The Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO), the development wing of the Catholic Church in the Upper East Region, has launched a skills and enterprise project for the youth to help reduce unemployment in the Region.

The Catholic Mission of Australia is sponsoring the One Million Ghana Cedis project, aimed at assisting the youth with employable skills and knowledge to augment the traditional farming activities, reduce poverty and improve livelihoods.

The project, would revamp agriculture such as fishery, piggery, rabbit and poultry farming in the area, train the youth in entrepreneurial, agro-based and hospitality services.

It would also renovate and refurbish the Youth Skills and Entrepreneurial Centre at Vea.

Dr Joseph Ayembilla, the Human Development Coordinator of NABOCADO, who launched the project at Sandema in the Bulisa North District of the Upper East Region, explained that the youth formed about 45 percent of the about two million congregations in the Diocese.

But they were faced with numerous challenges such as lack of entrepreneurial skills, low education, unemployment, low self-esteem and drug abuse among others, which the project sought to address.
“The project which will run from 2018-2020 would benefit 720 youth directly and 4,320 indirectly. This would give them gainful employment and skills, help reduce poverty in the Diocese and ensure food and livelihood security among the youth.”

Dr Ayembilla however noted that the support was an investment that the youth needed to put to good use in order to pay back.

He commended the Catholic Mission of Australia for the assistance and Most Reverend Alfred Agyenta, Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese for his effort at securing the funds.

The event coincided with the celebration of World Youth Day in the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese, and brought together about 380 youth from all the parishes in the Diocese. It was on the theme: “Do Not be Afraid, Mary; For You Have Found Favour with God.”

Reverend Father Clement Ajongba, the Diocesan Youth and Vocation Chaplain, said youth development was a priority of the Church, and urged the elders to assist the youth who were the leaders of every nation.
He called on other churches to set aside a percentage of their annual budget for youth development.

Reverend Father Linus Anaba Bugran, the Bishop of the Diocese, in a speech read on his behalf, admonished the youth to avoid portraying false identity, especially on social media to attract attention and rather submit themselves to the will of God and seek His blessing.

He said the increase in social vices such as armed robbery, prostitution, money rituals and educational malpractices among the youth were as a result of the absence of the fear of God in the youth.
He said Church leaders had critical roles in inspiring the youth to be responsible in society.

Posted on

Navrongo – Bolgatanga Diocese promotes health of school children

The Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese in the Upper East Region in partnership with Kindermissionswerk of Germany has embarked on a year’s programme to promote the health needs of school children within the Diocese and its environs.

The project covered five Districts including the Nabdam, Bongo, Builsa North, Kassena-Nankana West Districts, Kassena-Nankana Municipal and the West Mamprusi District in the Northern Region.

Dr Joseph Ayembilla, the Human Development Coordinator of the Diocese, said the project was in three phases and was piloted through the Diocesan Health Sector between 2014 and 2015, and covered 32 schools for phase one and 50 schools for phase two, while the current phase, which is the third, covered 118 Catholic schools within the Diocese.

Dr Ayembilla who disclosed this at a Stakeholder Consultation and Dialogue Session on the Sustainability of the programme in the Region, indicated that the first phase of the project involved educational activities, health screening for pupils and food vendors at the various schools and stakeholder discussions.

“Good learning for good academic performance comes from a sound mind and a sound mind comes from a healthy body,” he said.

He said the School Health Education Policy (SHEP) developed by the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service, targeted at improving the health of school children to enhance learning and the Diocese were doing their parts to enhance the policy since the welfare of children was of great concern to them.

He said the documented policy gave approval and directions to the implementation of interventions towards improving the health and academic performance of the school child but the major deficit was the lack of resources to comprehensively implement the policy intervention package.

The Coordinator said 22 toilet facilities with urinary and changing rooms for boys and girls in 11 basic schools with hand washing facilities attached, 100 metal fabricated tippy taps to 85 basic schools and 207 out of 646 food vendors were screened for various conditions as some of the achievements.

He disclosed that 23, 001 pupils were screened in the 118 schools and 3,696 who were found to have various health conditions were referred to health facilities for treatment.

Dr Ayembilla said the total cost of the project for the 118 was valued at One Million, Two Hundred Ghana cedis.

Stakeholders at the programme

Source: GNA