Child-centred NGO’s operation progresses in the north
The Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), a child-centred non-governmental organisation (NGO), operates in poor and deprived communities in the Northern Region, to promote the welfare of women and children, and helps improve the livelihoods of families and communities in the region.
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Currently working with five partners, namely the Ghana Baptist Convention (Breda), Assemblies of God Development and Relief Services (AGREDS), Tuma Kavi Development Association, Presbyterian Mile 7 and Markaz Al Bishara, the organisation recently extended its operations to the Builsa North and Kassena Nankana districts in the Upper East Region.
Retreat with partners
In an interview with the Daily Graphic at the annual retreat of CCFC and its partners in Tamale on Friday, the acting Country Director of the organisation, Mr William Anim-Dankwa, said in collaboration with Global Affairs of Canada (GAC) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the organisation had launched a project aimed at reducing maternal mortality and improving care for newborns and children in four districts in the Northern Region.
The Project, titled: “The Promise” being sponsored by GAC, would also build the capacity of health workers and provide medical equipment and infrastructure in the beneficiary districts.
The beneficiary districts are Nanumba North, Nanumba South and Saboba districts and the Savelugu Municipality where statistics indicate that maternal deaths and malnutrition among pregnant women, newborns and children are high.
At the retreat, Mr Anim-Dankwa said CCFC would continue to work with the government and other stakeholders to improve the lives of people who lived in deprived communities and to ensure that children were protected and given a voice to survive in the communities and the nation as a whole.
Support for children
He said from 1997 since CCFC started working in the country, it had supported over 25,000 children to climb the academic ladder to various levels, adding that it had also supported some groups, especially those operated by women, to establish Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA), as a way of contributing to the development of the economic well-being of people in the communities.
World Food Programme support
According to Mr Anim-Dankwa, CCFC, through the support of the World Food Programme (WFP), had assisted some communities in the East Gonja District to rehabilitate small dug-out dams to provide the people with potable water for consumption and agricultural purposes, while with support from the ChildFund of Korea, CCFC had also provided Gbulahagu and Kasuliyili, both in the Tolon District of the Northern Region, with potable water to lessen the burden on women and children who travel distances in search of water for consumption and other household chores.
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“As part of CCFC’s work in the health sector, CCFC has continued to donate medicines to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to deworm children and for the benefit of pregnant women. This has contributed in no small way to the reduction in maternal mortality in the Northern Region, with some of the medicines being donated to the GHS in the Upper East Region this year,” Mr Anim-Dankwa stated.
The Acting Country Director of CCFC used the opportunity to touch on this year’s general election, and appealed to the various political parties to maintain the peace in the country, by ensuring that the election was conducted in a peaceful manner, adding that it would ensure that the path of development chosen by Ghana would continue.