By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu, GNA
Bolgatanga, Sept. 16, GNA – The Savana Signatures, a non-government organisation (NGO), has engaged health officials and other stakeholders in the Upper East Region on social, behavioural change communication and nutrition in schools and communities.
The engagement, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), brought together regional and district nutrition and health promotion officers, School Health Education Programme (SHEP) coordinators and representatives from the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS).
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after the programme, Mr Godwin Etornam Adu, the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Research and Learning (MEARL) Officer of Savanna Signatures, said the initiative was aimed at promoting social and behavioural change and communication around nutrition in schools and communities.
He explained that the intervention would complement an existing school feeding programme in the region by adding a social and behavioural change communication component.
“Basically, what this project entails is that we are going to promote social behavioural change and communication in schools and communities in selected districts in the Upper East Region,” Mr Adu said.
He said the project would initially target four districts in the region including the Bawku West, Bawku Municipal, Garu and Tempane districts, and that a total of 44 schools across the four districts were selected for the school-based component of the intervention.
The MEARL Officer said the initiative was already ongoing, and described the existing school feeding programme in the region as a strong foundation upon which the new component would be built.
“There is an existing strong school feeding programme in the region, so together with WFP, we are adding the social and behaviour change communication to the ongoing project, which is already a success,” he said.
Mr Adu also used the opportunity to explain the work of Savana Signatures, describing the organization as an ICT-for-development organization, which integrates technology into its programme areas.
He said the Tamale-based NGO had been operating for over 16 years across four strategic pillars, namely: human capital development, social inclusion and cohesion, technology, innovation and training; and sustainable environmental management and resilience.
Mr Adu expressed confidence in the capacity of regional and district-level stakeholders to support the successful implementation of the intervention, and indicated that the engagement had generated strong commitment from officials at both the regional and district levels.
“With the commitments from the district and regional officers, I expect nothing but the best,” he noted.
The MEARL Officer added that Savana Signatures had extensive experience working with stakeholders in Northern Ghana, “We know their capacities and capabilities, so we are not expecting nothing short of the best to be delivered,” he added.
The stakeholder engagement was expected to strengthen collaboration between the implementing organizations, health and education stakeholders as the school and community nutrition activities were rolled out across the selected districts.
Mr Rexford King James Adjei, the Upper East Regional Health Promotion Officer, who deputised Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, the Regional Director of the GHS, urged participants to brief their respective directors on the project to facilitate its smooth implementation.
Contributing to discussions, Madam Gloria Yvonne Kobati, the Regional Nutrition Officer, noted that leadership of the GHS in the region had over the years supported initiatives to promote quality health and nutrition outcomes.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/BenjaminMensah
Reporter: Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Reporter’s email address: [email protected]