Mr Habib Haruna, Chief Executive Officer of Pure Trust Social Investors Foundation (PTSIF), a non-governmental organisation, has urged the citizenry to prioritise local initiatives to ensure the development of their areas.
Mr Haruna emphasised the need for community members amongst other stakeholders to pool resources to create the needed avenue for the development of their areas.
He was speaking at a stakeholders consortium workshop in Tamale organised by PTSIF in partnership with Ghana Philanthropy Forum (GPF) and funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
The workshop was to engage stakeholders from communities that had registered for the second phase of the Community Foundations project being implemented by PTSIF to get them prepared for the smooth implementation of the project by January, next year.
Participants included members of various Community Foundations, and representatives from the middle and northern zones of the country, who shared experiences and updates on activities undertaken in their areas as part of the Community Foundations initiative.
They also discussed the need to strengthen the Community Foundations as well as the need for more community involvement and participation to ensure they achieved their targets.
Mr Haruna expressed the need for participants to educate community members on the relevance of Community Foundations to whip up their interest and participation in championing their own development.
Dr Ben Ocra, President of GPF called on Community Foundations to tap into the available resources in their communities to reduce their dependence on donor organisations in the drawing and implementation of initiatives for their own development.
He called on Community Foundations to build the culture of documentation and accountability to help project the African story of philanthropy to guarantee mutual and sustainable development in the communities.
Mr Martin Gyan, Sunyani West representative of PTSIF expressed the need for all to develop the spirit of volunteerism to complement government’s efforts for the development of their communities.
Mr Charles Nyojah, Saboba Zonal Representative expressed the willingness of members of his zone to actively participate in the activities of the Community Foundation to champion their own development.
GNA
