By Kodjo Adams
Accra, Oct. 23, GNA- Mr Bernard Anaba, Head of Programmes at ISODEC, an NGO, says the Ford Foundation has supported organisations to champion social and economic justice in Ghana, West Africa and worldwide.
He said the Foundation had supported ISODEC to address inequalities, injustices and poverty in Ghana and the rest of West Africa through improved natural resource governance and fiscal transparency.
Mr Anaba said this in Dodowa, Accra, to commemorate 65 years of the Ford Foundation’s presence in West Africa on the theme: “From Nation Building to Social Justice”.
The event brought together leaders and stakeholders in the Civil Society Organizations space to honour the Foundation’s legacy in social justice and sustainable development.
“The Foundation has promoted marginalised groups’ access to productive resources, especially land, credit, and quality, affordable essential social services like healthcare and education in Ghana,” he said.
He said the Foundation had been an indispensable catalyst for change, a reliable partner driving progress across the region.
Mr Anaba said ISODEC partnered with the Foundation in 2014, and the collaboration had grown in the areas of the environment, natural resources and social justice.
The Foundation, he stressed, believed in meaningful civic engagement as a bridge to equity, with the potential to empower under-represented and marginalised communities that had been neglected.
Mr Anaba said the Foundation in partnership with other philanthropists, including the Luminate and the Open Society Foundations, had launched a $20 million West Africa Democracy Fund.
The Fund was to reimagine, renew, and strengthen democracy across the West African region.
He commended the Foundation’s efforts and support in prioritising natural resource governance and climate justice and helping local initiatives for sustainable land management.
A speech read on behalf of Mr Ignatius Godfrey Dordoe, the District Chief Executive, Shai Osudoku Assembly, said the Foundation’s legacy had made a significant impact and empowered visionary leaders, nurtured institutions of integrity, and supported movements dedicated to advancing human dignity, democratic governance, and inclusivity.
“In Dodowa, we have a rich historical heritage that also shares in the values of the Ford Foundation,” he said.
He said Dodowa land and forest had not only been places of cultural significance but also places that signified environmental stewardship and agricultural heritage.
“We are not only symbolise resilience, community, and life, but we are called to fight environmental degradation caused by illegal logging, mining, and practices that threaten livelihoods and the health of our children’s future and the future of humanity,” he said.
The Foundation in collaboration with ISODEC and other stakeholders like the Forestry Commission, planted trees within the premises of the Shai-Osudoku District Assembly in Dodowa.
The initiative is to promote environmental sustainability and climate justice.
GNA
Edited by Christian Akorlie