REDKAN FOUNDATION GHANA UPPER WEST REGION

1. REDKAN FOUNDATIONGHANAUPPER WEST REGION Gambettola, Italy 25th May 2007

2. VISION AND OBJECTIVES The RFG is engaged in five main fields: • Poverty Reduction through Enhanced Agriculture. • Sustainable Health and Education. • Environmental Conservation. • Women and Children Rights Advocacy • Provision of Micro-Credit for Small Scale Enterprise

3. My presentation today is about: Education and Health, I will like to introduce a new dimension which I think has critical bearing to this festival ‘POVERTY’ but in the context Ghana POVERTY EDUCATION HEALTH

4. EDUCATION, HEALTH AND POVERTY The Situation: • POVERTY: 9 out of every 10 are poor in Upper West Region. • HEALTH: 5 health centres in the region serving a population of 95,000 people. 76% have access to these facilities. • EDUCATION: The region has the highest illiteracy rate in the country of about 82%(GPRS,2003) • Experience has shown that rural women are always the worst affected people, so far as poverty is concerned(Asenso-Okyere et al. (1997).

5. In many African countries, Ghana especially, culture plays a major role in the organization of domestic activities. Women do not take part in the decision-making process, but the ability of a woman to provide for the family economically may give them the opportunity to influence household’s decisions. (Paul Adom, 2004) • However, it is my view that poverty manifests itself as a material deprivation, and its causes are attributable to unequal power in domestic relations. These relations position women as subordinate, and dependent on their men folks who have control over the resources.

6. The previous brief gives some idea of the nature and extent of poverty in the region and raises some critical questions about • The role of the State and Policy in addressing these appalling statistics for local economic development. And whether there is a place for; • Civil Society Organisation • and Cultural Dynamics.

7. Since independence in the late 50s government policies have failed to address these problems largely because of the approach to local economic development, which does not take into consideration the aims and objectives of the people for whom policies are designed. This brings to mind the statement of Nelson Mandela on Development “People living in poverty have the least access to power to shape policies – to shape their future. But they have the right to a voice. They must not be made to sit in silence as ‘development’ happens around them, at their expense. True development is impossible without the participation of those concerned (The Guardian, 4th November 2006)

8. ‘Perhaps, it is more appropriate to define ‘development’ in the context of a specific locality, according to the aims and objectives of the people that are seeking to develop’ (R. Sugden and J. Wilson, 2002)

9. Our Approach A grass root participatory model to development and poverty reduction, with emphasis on a democratic and deliberative process through discussion, effective communication, informed interaction based on rational contribution of general consensus.

10. Community Development

11. Women’s Leadership

12. Issues arising from deliberation • The need for education and a healthy lifestyle • Inclusion in government development policies. • The desire to go beyond subsistence agriculture. • They also identified that some cultural practices and traditions were constraints to women, especially practices such as betrothal, female genital mutilation, and the confined role of women to household activities.

13. Project We designed a three dimensional project that was aimed at dealing with the core issues of education, health and agriculture, that was geared towards tackling the problem of poverty in the region with funding from the Australian Embassy Ghana.

14. Agriculture: We offered support such as; farm inputs, fertilizers, ploughs and extension services through the MOA and local development partners in the country as way of modernizing agriculture and increasing productivity.

15. Post Ante Low rate of educational enrolment in the region (more so for girls) Ex Ante Because of the availability of more mechanized agric inputs farmers needed fewer children on the fields and school enrolment increased as a result. (Redkan reached an agreed condition that benefiting farmers would enrol their children in schools) Education

16. The project engaged the services of nurses under the UNICEF health programme to offer free community consultation and vaccination for polio, measles and malaria treatment. We also offer training to Traditional Birth Attendance, to help deliver new born babies in hygienic conditions and to administer first aid treatment. Health

17. In the first phase of the project the following were observed: A 52% increase in the educational enrolment. With a 35% for males and 48% for females Under the UNICEF health programme a total 500 children between the ages of 1-3yrs were inoculated with over 850 people receiving free medical consultation. Additionally we successfully accomplished 15 health campaigns in 28 communities on HIV. The agricultural support has been very successful given the inputs and logistics made available to the community. Outcomes