The EU Ambassador to Ghana, William Hanna has embarked on a three-day visit to North of Ghana to learn lessons from EU-funded projects in the Northern and Upper East regions of Ghana.
He also interacted with local communities and called on the Upper East Regional Minister, James Zuugah Tiigah, and the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru.
He announced that the European Union would provide EUR 180 million in the next seven years to support infrastructure investment for agriculture and climate change measures.
On his first day of visit, Ambassador William Hanna joined by his wife Paola, travelled from Tamale to the Sirigu Village in the Upper East to learn more about how the support provided to the Sirigu Women’s Organisation for Pottery and Art (SWOPA) by Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund allowed them to improve their income.
The BUSAC fund, co-funded by the European Union, DANIDA and USAID, is a project the EU supports under the 10th European Development Fund, as part of the National Indicative Programme 2007-2013. The objective is to contribute to improving the business environment through advocacy actions, seen as an important condition for a sound development of the private sector in Ghana.
Sirigu Women increased their sales by 40%
As part of the European Year for Development 2015, Ambassador Hanna handed over an Award delivered in Brussels by the International and Development (DEVCO) Directorate-General of the European Commission in January 2015 to single out the success story of SWOPA – the best one for West and Central Africa.
Created in 1997, SWOPA successfully managed thanks to the support of BUSAC to obtain the connection of the SWOPA arts centre to the national electricity grid in mid-2012. It enabled SWOPA to increase their sales by 40% and gave access to electricity to hundreds of homes in the Community around the centre.
Investing in People – Kparigu Shea Butter Processing Plant
Ambassador Hanna paid also a visit to the Kparigu Shea Butter Processing Plant, a project from the international non-governmental organisation PlaNet Finance, which received a grant of EUR 888,000 under the programme Investing in People to empower rural Ghanaian women.
The project has successfully organised 4681 women shea processors scattered around Northern Ghana into legally registered producer associations. As of early 2015, the network gathered 15 000 women producers and contributed to a significant increase in revenues for women. It also allowed women to register to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The European Union is also preparing future programmes focusing on employment and social protection targeting the three regions of Northern Ghana. The objective will be to improve technical and vocational education and training opportunities, as well as the apprenticeship system in agricultural value chains.
As part of our Trade-Related Quality Enabling Programme (TRAQUE), the European Union is about to support some 15 warehouses, some of them being in the 3 Northern regions to improve the Warehouse Receipt System in view of the future establishment of the Ghana Commodity Exchange.
Courtesy Calls on Upper East & Northern Regional Ministers
Ambassador Hanna paid also a courtesy call visit to the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Tiigah, and the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Mohammed-Muniru, to exchange views on the development of the region.
Mr Hanna explained that “the European Union is committed to support the North of Ghana through a wide range of programmes from agriculture infrastructure to capacity-building for local governance.”
He added that he was impressed by Civil Society Organisations supported by the EU in the region. “It is great to see that our grants are having a direct impact on local communities, be it to generate income for women, to improve access to sanitation or to support maternal health”.
As part of the programme for effective decentralisation, the European Union is providing moreover financial support to the Upper East and Northern Regional Councils to strengthen the institutional capacities of District Assemblies.
EUR 180 Million for Energy, Water and Roads to support Agriculture
During his visit, Ambassador Hanna announced that the European Commission in Brussels and the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Food and Agriculture of Ghana gave their green light for a new programme to support infrastructure for agriculture.
As part of the National Indicative Programme for 2014-2020, half of the 11th European Development Fund will be allocated to “Productive Investments for Agriculture in Savannah Climatic Zone of Ghana”, for an amount of EUR 180 Million during the seven-year period. EUR 90 Million is expected in 2016 and another tranche of EUR 90 million in 2018.
The EU wants to help Ghana’s agricultural sector and after the discussions during the EU joint programming, it was decided that the EU would look at supporting Ghana in developing its poor infrastructure in Energy, Water, and Roads, with a view to increase the potential of the sector to become a real generator of wealth for the North.
The sector will look at two pillars: Investments in Infrastructure in support of Agriculture and Investments to mitigate climate change impacts and reverse environmental degradation through sustainable agricultural practices and introduction of renewable and sustainable energy sources for agricultural production.
The feasibility phase of the project formulation is now about to start. During this stage the Regional, District and Municipal Authorities in the North of Ghana will have a key role to play in the identification of the specific targeted geographical areas “Growth Poles” and the required priority-infrastructure investments.
EU supports Civil Society Organisations in the North
During his field visit, the EU Ambassador also visited a number of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) supported by the European Union under the Non-State Actors Thematic Programme.
WaterAid Ghana – Advocacy for WASH Services
The European Union has provided a three-year grant to WaterAid Ghana in partnership with CONIWAS, a Coalition of NGOs in water and sanitation, and a local organisation based in Tamale, the Integrated Action for Community Development (INTAGRAD) with a grant to empower citizens and civil society organisations to improve the delivery, equity and sustainability of water, sanitation and hygiene services.
Ambassador Hanna and his wife took part in a Durbar organised by WaterAid Ghana to interact with Community Representatives from Bongo, Upper East. Discussions focussed on how to empower citizens groups to effectively demand for the delivery of WASH services.
The District Assembly has total water coverage of 79.9%, but is still confronted with issues of quality, equity and sustainability. Under the 2014-2017 EU/WaterAid support, the District developed a new Water and Sanitation Plan for 2015-2020 with the target of improving access to safe sanitation from 13.5% to 60% by 2020.
MEHAP – Maternal Health Social Accountability Project
Ambassador Hanna also visited the Maternal Health Social Accountability (MEHAP) EU-funded Project implemented by Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG). He was able to take part in a Community Peer Review Session and in a Durbar with the Kandema Community in the Builsa District of the Upper East Region.
The objectives of the MEHAP project are to improve the quality of maternal health services through strengthening social accountability systems, as well as to engage the community to increase accessibility of maternal health services. A Community Health Committee (CHC) was created to facilitate dialogue between all stakeholders. The CHC designed a Community Health Action Plan and relies on the use of a Community Score Card to identify barriers to the access to maternal health services.
African Eye News.com
