ActionAid Ghana (AAG), a Non-Governmental Organization, has begun distributing COVID-19 relief items valued at GH¢2,190,000.00 to rural communities across the country.
The relief items, which include food and non-food products comprised of 31,117 sacks of rice each containing five bags of five kilograms packs, 1,314 boxes of cooking oil, 290 boxes of sanitary pads each containing 24 packs, 330 packs of cocoa powder and sugar.
The non-food products include 15,000 reusable nose masks, 45 cartons of hand gloves, 45 cartons of disinfectants, 75 gallons of liquid soap, 935 boxes of soap each containing 24 bars, over 600 boxes of alcohol-based hand sanitizes each containing 24 bottles, 500 veronica buckets.
The project is being implemented in collaboration with its partners with funding support from European Union under the Northern Ghana Integrated Development Project and the Players of the People’s Postcode Lottery in the United Kingdom under the ‘Building the Agency of Adolescent Young Girl’s for Inclusive Leadership’ and other donors.
This was made known at the launch of AAG COVID-19 Response Project at Zebilla in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region.
Mr John Nkaw, the Head of Programmes, Campaigns, and Innovations of AAG, said the AAG COVID-19 Response Project was being implemented in three phases aimed at supporting the Government of Ghana‘s efforts at containing the pandemic.
He said phase one, which was currently ongoing, was characterized by series of awareness campaigns and health and safety protocols using social media, community radio as well as the use of Information, Education, and Communication Materials.
The Head of Programmes stated that phase two, which commenced on June 1, this year in the Greater Accra region involving the distribution of relief items including food and non-food items was ongoing in the Upper East and Upper West Regions.
The items were currently being distributed across 31 districts in the country, and eight Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) in the Upper East Region including Bawku West, Pusiga, Bawku Municipal, Binduri, Nabdam, Talensi, Nabdam, Kassena-Nankana Municipal, and Builsa South Districts, he added.
Meanwhile, the phase three component of the AAG COVID-19 Response would consist of another relief package, which would target additional 10,000 households and a National Advocacy Campaign with a focus on the need for the provision of Gender Responsive Public Services as well as Enhanced Social Protection Interventions for people living in poverty especially women and girls.
The Upper East Regional Manager of AAG, Mr Alhassan Sulemana, stated that management of his outfit envisaged the social and economic hardship the pandemic was going to cause to the people, hence, it quickly tabled a proposal to AAG funding partners, which yielded positive results.
The project is expected to benefit 3,000 women and children with their immediate family members.
Mr Frank Fuseini Adongo, the Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, said the Regional Coordinating Council was happy that eight out of the MDAs had been selected to benefit from the project and commended AAG and its funding partners for the support.
He said the government alone could not fight the pandemic and appealed to more organizations to take a clue from AAG and complement the government’s effort.
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