The Upper East Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) has reaffirmed its commitment to working with World Vision Ghana to address development challenges confronting communities across the region.
The Regional Minister, Donatus Akamugri Atanga, made the commitment when a delegation from World Vision Ghana, led by Joshua Baido, Strategy and Integrated Programmes Director, paid a courtesy call on him at the RCC in Bolgatanga on Monday.
The visit formed part of World Vision Ghana’s stakeholder engagements to assess its interventions in the region and strengthen collaboration with relevant institutions.
Mr. Baido said the visit was also intended to reciprocate an earlier engagement by the Regional Minister with the organisation and acknowledge the support of the RCC towards the implementation of its programmes.
In response, Mr. Akamugri acknowledged World Vision Ghana’s contribution to development in the Upper East Region but said significant challenges remained, particularly in the education sector.
He cited the continued shortage of school infrastructure, noting that some schools in the region still operate under trees, leaving pupils exposed to harsh weather conditions.
The Minister disclosed that he had presented a list of schools in need of support to World Vision Ghana, which had subsequently referred the request to partner non-governmental organisations working in the education sector.
Mr. Akamugri also identified poverty and limited economic opportunities as major challenges confronting households in the region.
He called for greater investment in all-year-round farming, particularly through interventions that could provide farmers with reliable access to water.
The Minister proposed the construction of mechanised boreholes to support women and other farmers to engage in dry-season and year-round agricultural production as a means of improving household incomes.
He also cited his experience as a former Assembly Member in the Bongo District, where he served for 16 years, as evidence of some of World Vision’s longstanding interventions in the region.
According to him, the establishment of a World Vision Resource Centre in the district provided a much-needed facility for community and institutional meetings at a time when the district lacked an appropriate venue.
He said the facility had subsequently become an important community asset. Mr. Akamugri further noted that several young people who benefited from World Vision’s interventions in education had progressed to become responsible members of society.
He therefore called for continued collaboration between development organisations and state institutions to address the region’s development needs.
The Regional Minister also briefed the World Vision delegation on the outcome of the recently concluded PEARL—Prosperity through Enterprise, Agriculture, Resilience and Livelihoods—consultation forum.
He described the outcome document from the consultation as a blueprint for development in the Upper East Region and said the RCC would share it with World Vision Ghana.
The move, he said, would enable the organisation to identify areas where its programmes could be aligned with the region’s development priorities.
Mr. Akamugri assured World Vision Ghana of the RCC’s continued cooperation as the organisation implements its programmes in the region.
For his part, Mr. Baido expressed appreciation to the Minister and the RCC for their support and collaboration, which he said had contributed to the implementation of World Vision’s interventions in the region.
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