Accra, Ghana, November 4, 2019//-Staff of World Bank Group (WBG) deepened their support for the Senior Correctional Centre in Accra by donating and interacting with the inmates and officials of the centre.
To this end, the bank presented assorted worth thousands of Ghana cedis to the centre to help the reformation and reintegration of the inmates into the society.
The items which were presented as part of celebrations to mark the International Day for Eradication of Poverty-End Poverty Day (EPD) 2019, which took place on October 17th, included 10 bags of rice, 10 cartons of fish, gallons of cooking oil, clothes, and stationery.
“As part of the World Bank Group’s Staff Engagement program this year, we have arranged with the Ghana Library Authority’s mobile Library to visit the Senior Corrections Center as part of efforts at encouraging the reading culture of the children and to make a donation to them”, according to officials of the bank.
The World Bank’s Country Director for Ghana, Pierre Laporte who led the staff to the correctional center said the WBG staff Community Outreach Group was initiated to demonstrate the commitment of the individuals who make up the World Bank Group, by contributing to tackling some of the challenges faced by social organization within the vicinity of the World Bank Office in Accra.
“We are happy to make this donation and hope its use will aid the Center in achieving its goal of assisting the community and the Greater Accra Region as a whole”.
So we are here to not only make a donation but also to encourage you to take your studies seriously, make time to read a story book every month, and apply what you have learnt through the reading, Mr Laporte added.
Touching on this year’s theme of the End Poverty Day which was ‘Ending Learning Poverty -What will take?’, he said too many children are experiencing “learning poverty” – which is defined as the percentage of children who cannot read and understand a simple story and are failing to acquire foundational skills such as basic literacy by age 10.
In low- and middle-income countries like Ghana, 53 percent of children in late primary cannot read and understand a simple story, he added.
“Reading is one important gateway skill, and all children should be able to read in order to develop more complex foundational cognitive and socioemotional skills as they grow up”.
Mr Laporte noted: “Reading is the foundation upon which other essential skills, such as numeracy and science, are built. It is also a right and a crucial stepping stone to further schooling and learning.Children who donot read by late primary find it difficult to catch-up”.
To engage individual countries, policymakers, and the public and drive engagement towards the issue, the World Bank has developed a global campaign called, Literacy Makes Sense.
The Senior Correctional Centre according to senior officials currently has 263 inmates who are undergoing reformation and reintegration processes.
African Eye Report
