Our project activities have improved lives of citizens in deprived communities – GDCA

By Albert Futukpor, GNA

Dalun (N/R), Nov 17, GNA – Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), an NGO, has given an account of its operations for the financial year which ended December 31, 2022, saying its project activities during the period led to improvement in the lives of many people in deprived communities.

The GDCA said the activities had empowered communities and citizens groups to undertake interventions to improve their conditions and had influenced authorities to act positively in their favour.

This was in the Annual Report of the GDCA presented at its 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Dalun in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region.

Dr Osman Al-Hassan, Board Chairman of GDCA, who presented the Annual Report of the organisation at the AGM, said the organisation’s various project activities yielded the desired outcomes.

The report covered project activities undertaken during the year under review by the GDCA and its subsidiary organisations, School for Life, Changing Lives in Innovative Partnerships, and Dalun Simli Centre.

Project activities implemented during the year under review were the Empowerment for Life Programme (E4L), the Citizen-led Educational Accountability and Responsiveness in Ghana Project, Ghana Education Outcomes Project, Support Project for Strengthening Social Cohesion in Strategic Cross-border Territories, Supporting Agro-pastoralism to Reinforce Social Cohesion in Cross-border Territories, Project to Support Livestock Mobility for Better Access to Resources and Markets in West Africa, European Union Volunteers Aid amongst others.

The GDCA exists to empower the citizens of deprived communities and socially excluded in the country to work to achieve political, social and economic development and engage in sound environmental practices for sustainable living.

Dr Al-Hassan mentioned the Sang Rice Processing Mill in the Mion District of the Northern Region and said a year after the rice milling equipment was successfully installed, the facility had been of significant support to farmers in the area adding “The quality of the produce is so high that the Sang Cooperative Union was beating market competition.”

He noted that the period also witnessed some challenges.

“The annual floods continue to be a challenge for communities, especially those located along the White Volta and its tributaries and low-lying areas. The annual spillage of the Bagre Dam in

Burkina Faso affects communities along the pathway of the flood waters. This results in human displacements, crop losses and mobility challenges,” he said.

GNA