Development partners urged to monitor projects

Diare (N/R), March 27, GNA- Mr Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Northern Regional Minister has urged international development partners and NGOs to constantly monitor and evaluate the impact of projects they had funded on the lives of the people.

He said this would enable them to be abreast with the progress of their activities to determine which areas needed further attention and also not to be misled by "so-called good reports by their local partners".

Mr Adam made the call when a team of high-ranking personnel of the World Vision International (WVI) led by Mr Rich Steams, President of World Vision US, Mr Steve Hilton, President of Hilton Foundation and Mr Sam Asare, National Director of World Vision Ghana, paid a courtesy call on him in Tamale on Monday.

Mr Adam commended WVI for its interventions in the areas of the provision of water, health, education and micro-credit facilities to help improve the living conditions of the rural communities. The Deputy Minister said although the Northern Region had benefited from the broad interventions from the development partners it needed special attention because of its peculiar situation.

Mr Adam said the region had been rated as one of the poorest in the country with a high illiteracy rate, coupled with the lack of investment to propel its development.

He therefore appealed to WVI "to serve as a goodwill ambassador of Ghana" to encourage investors to invest in the region and also exploit its potentials.

He particularly appealed to the organisation to consider building a five-star hotel in the Tamale Metropolis to help accommodate sports enthusiasts who would attend CAN 2008. Mr Steams said the provision of potable water in the rural communities had helped minimise guinea worm infestation, increased food production, enhanced school enrolment and also encouraged teachers to stay in the rural areas.

He commended the government of Ghana for its support and cooperation, which, he said, had enabled WVI to achieve a lot in its operations and pledged that his organisation would continue to assist the government to realise its development goals.

In a related development, WVI has commissioned a 150 million-cedi water system it funded with support from the Conrad Hilton Foundation, its major donor, for the people of Diare a farming community in the Savelugu/Nanton District.

Mr Hilton and Mr Steams who jointly commissioned the project assured the people that the World Vision would continue to provide more boreholes to the people to ensure that the guinea worm disease was eradicated from the area.

Mr Steams announced that about one million people in the United States were making financial contributions to support the Hilton Foundation to undertake development projects in some countries in Africa, including Ghana.

The areas of focus would be education, health, water and provision of micro-credit, he said.

Alhaji Abubakari A. Attori Savelugu/Nanton District Chief Executive appealed to the people to take proper care of the facility and warned them not to drink from unsafe water sources to prevent the spread of the guinea worm disease.

He asked them to pay their water levy to ensure the proper maintenance of the facility.

Mr Zaid Isahak, Assembly Member for Diare Electoral Area, commended the World Vision for the provision of the water system, which he said, would supplement the existing four boreholes in the provision of good drinking water to the 10,000 people of the town. He appealed to the organisation to assist in equipping the health centre in the town and also to provide means of transport to the nurses to undertake their outreach programmes.