By Yussif Ibrahim
Kumasi Jan. 03, GNA – Livelihood and Environment Ghana (LEG), a research and advocacy Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) established in 2004, has marked 20 years of advocating for environmental protection in Ghana.
The organisation has also been championing human and economic rights of communities in mining areas, who have had to endure the brunt of the negative impacts of the operations of mining firms with impunity.
Apart from empowering vulnerable groups in such communities for sustainable livelihoods, LEG has also advocated for adequate compensations for individuals whose farmlands and other property have been affected by operations of mining companies.
It has also undertaken community advocacy and sensitisation, capacity building and training sessions, women economic empowerment, afforestation, as well as engagements with duty bearers and policy makers over the period.
With so many success stories to its name over the past two decades, the organisation is celebrating its impact in the environmental advocacy space as it strategises the way forward in the next decade.
The 20th anniversary is being celebrated on the theme, “Reimagining Nature, Livelihoods and Community Rights.”
In the last nine years, over GHC 10 million has been given as soft loans to 2,017 women and 13 men through a Women Empowerment Programme to enable beneficiaries either start or expand their businesses.
A total of 3,753 people in five mining affected communities and two others have received training in various employable skills and basic business and financial management principles.
Mr. Richard Adjei Poku, Executive Director of LEG, at a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary in Kumasi, said economic empowerment of citizens in mining communities was as critical as the protection of the environment.
He said community rights were fundamental to social justice and equity because they ensured that communities had the power to participate in decisions affecting their lives, access resources equitably, and live free from harm and exploitation.
The right to clean air, quality water, healthy soil, and decent living wages by inhabitants in mining communities must not be compromised under any circumstance, Mr. Adjei Poku emphasised.
“However, these rights are often overlooked, particularly in regions affected by industrial activities like mining.
Community rights are frequently enshrined in national constitutions or international treaties but rarely upheld in real life,” he stated.
He disclosed that many communities had won legal tussles that appeared unsurmountable through the interventions of LEG.
The Executive Director announced the organisation’s unwavering commitment to continue advocating for the rights of mining communities, while building their capacity economically in the coming years.
He acknowledged the support of Third World Network Africa, Oxfam Novib, STAR Ghana Foundation, Global Greengrants Fund and ISODEC for the implementation of their programmes over the years.
GNA