Forty-Eight(48) districts from the five regions of Northern Ghana including The Savana, Upper West, Northern, North East and the Upper East Regions, and the Oti Region will benefit from a $150 million World Bank facility which is aimed to prevent the spread of conflict from the Sahel region into Ghana, and its neighbouring countries of Cote D’lvouire, Benin, and Togo.
The project which will run from 2022 to 2027, is expected to reach over 4,600 border-zone communities across the Northern Gulf of Guinea sub-region, with specific focus on Vulnerable village clusters in border areas exposed to conflict and climate change.
The Country director of World Bank, Pierrepont Laporte, in his remarks at the launch of the SOCO project in Bolgatanga said the project is expected to preventing the spread of conflicts from the Sahel, reduce the Vulnerability of the countries along the Gulf of Guinea to climate change and to provide economic opportunities.
“This is an important milestone towards the implementation of this important program aimed at proactively preventing the spread of conflicts from the Sahel, reduce Vulnerability to climate change, and strengthen local institutions, economic opportunities, and public trust in Forty-Eight (48) districts in the North of Ghana.”
Mr. Laporte added that the project is important because external pressures of conflict, climate change, and Covid19 are compounded by longstanding challenges of poverty, exclusion and weak governance, and the lack of opportunities for the youth all poses an increasing security challenge for regions of the Northern regions of the Gulf of Guinea.
” External pressures of conflict ,climate change, and Covid19 are compounded by longstanding challenges of poverty, exclusion, weak governance – all of which may bread marginalisation and inequality. The lack of job for the youth, intercommunity tensions, poses an increasing security challenge for the Northern region of the Gulf of Guinea countries that face serious threats of southward transmission of the rapidly escalating Sahel conflict which calls for regionally coordinated solutions that effectively responds to local needs.”
In a speech read on behalf of the Upper East Regional Minister, the Upper West Regional Minister, DR. Hafiz Bin Salif said “this intervention seeks to provide the communities with basic facilities and equip the youth with employable skills so as to serve as a disincentive for these bandits to take advantage of them.”
Launching the SOCO project at the auditorium of the Desert Pastures Church of Fountain Gate in Bolgatanga on Friday 25th November, 2022, the Vice president remarked, ” The project has been conceived and designed to address the effect of the speel over of conflicts and extremism from the Sahel region. It focuses on border communities in regions where the citizenry especially women and the youth are exposed and susceptible to threat of terrorism from the Sahel region.”
“The recent unrelenting insurgents violence by armed insurgent troops, a criminal gang in some countries in the Sahel have resulted in the internal displacement of about 2.5 million people this year which means quadruple the number of displaced persons in just 2019. Indeed the past five years has been the most violent on record with over 12,000 conflict events and 15,000 fatalities since june 2019”
“it is expected that the project will contribute immensely to improving the socio economic resilience of the target communities and provide an avenue to coordinate border area investment and improve regional level dialogue among participating countries”
“I wish to entreat all participating agencies to remain committed to the implementation of this project to achieve the desired goals.”
The Paramount Chief of the Nangodi traditional area, Naba Kosom Saga Yelazoya II, who was the chairman of the the occasion, entreated project implementers to give their all for a successful implementation of the project.
” I wish to entreat all project implementers to give your all to make this project a success. I call on all of you to see this project as the mother of all projects. You should not be carried away with the excitement of this function or the satisfaction of the goodies to come, the motors you will ride, the four wheel drives, the V8s but to be propelled by the gains for which these goodies are provided.”
The Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion project is World Bank IDA $450 million facility for four countries out of which Ghana’s share is $150m. Cote D’lvouire will also get $150m while Togo and Benin take $75m each.
The project will cover all 15 districts and Municipalities in the Upper East Region, all 11 MDAs in Upper West Region, 8 MDAs in Northern Region, 6 MDAs in North East Region, 4 MDAs in Savannah Region, and 4 MDAs in the Oti Region.
By: Simon Agana Blessing/mywordfmonline.com