Professor Harold Amonoo-Kuofi, the Former Provost of the College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, said that commission must have a strong representation from the Ministry of Health.

He said the commission would play the lead role in supporting government and other allied agencies in setting the national SDG targets, implement and ensure strict monitoring of progress of work while the NDPC concentrated on its broader functions.

[contextly_sidebar id=”DXAsYttOhCW30ckbjfTraCPbt1aOhFvI”]Prof Amonoo-Kuofi, who made the call at the 2017 Annual Central Regional Health Sector Performance Review Meeting in Cape Coast on Tuesday, said national coordination of SDGs needed focused attention as it could not be lumped together with other developmental issues.

The two-day programme, on the theme: “Achieving the Health Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Effective Stakeholder Engagement,” was attended by health professionals and students, metropolitan municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) and the media.

Prof Amonoo-Kuofi said the absence of national health insurance cover for routine screening services was worrying.

He explained that the SDGs had specified 17 universal goals, 169 targets, 230 indicators with nine out of the 17 goals, precisely goals one, two, three, five, six, seven, eight, eleven and sixteen being directly or indirectly related to health.

He, therefore, said it was incumbent upon Ghana to pay heed to the United Nations (UN) recommendations to countries to set up national councils and bodies for achieving the SDGs.

In addition to that, it would enhance effective stakeholder engagement with community leaders, traditional leaders, schools, teachers and religious organisations to build on local knowledge and techniques to improve local ownership and bottom up involvement in development planning.

“That way, they would help address negative cultural practices and other ‘soft’ development issues that required the involvement of community leaders and social workers,” he said.

Prof Amonoo-Kuofi said prioritising the achievement of the SDG’s was an investment in the future of the youth and children, which would be an enabler to significantly reduce inequalities, extreme poverty, tackle climate change and reverse environmental degradation and the unsustainable use of environmental resources.

He said individuals must have a purpose that would enable them to contribute positively towards enhancing the basic human rights and dignity of members of their societies while proactively seeking innovative business models that addressed their current challenges.

Achieving the SDGs is everybody’s business and the private sector had a central role to play in achieving the goals as it presented significant opportunities for business entities.

He said just as governments were being urged to align their national development plans with SDGs, businesses must also align their corporate goals with the SDGs to maximise coherence with the national efforts at attaining the goals.

Touching on data, Prof. Amonoo-Kuofi said the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) must endeavour to deepen analysis on what data would be required for monitoring the SDGs and achieving the targets.

A complete assessment needed to be undertaken of the administrative sources of data envisaged in the Ghana Statistical Development Plan for generating the required statistics from the most relevant sources for the SDGs indicators.

Dr Alexis Nang-Beifubah, the Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), paid glowing tribute to all stakeholders, particularly donor partners and Non-Governmental Organisations, for providing healthcare logistics and financial support towards achieving the SDGs.

He expressed the GHS’s readiness to work with them to expand geographical access to healthcare with emphasis on ending preventable child and maternal deaths, reducing unmet needs for family planning services, and improving nutritional status of pregnant women and children under five years.

“I wish to appeal to other development partners to come to our aid as we transition into Ghana Beyond Aid,” he said.

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Source: GNA

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Speaking at a round-table event in Accra on the SDGs on Monday, Nana Addo said that a lot of work needs to be done by all players on the continent to ensure the swift implementation of the SDGs, as this would translate into an improvement in the standard of living of all Africans.

“If we are to succeed in our noble ambition to transform our continent, and pull masses of our people out of poverty and deprivation, Africa must pursue the implementation of the SDGs with a strong sense of urgency, and an unparalleled commitment to act now,” the President said.

“We do not have the luxury of time when it comes to the pressing challenges of poverty, climate change, youth unemployment and the myriad of issues that confront the continent.”

‘Selfless leadership needed’

According to President Akufo-Addo, in order for Africa to overcome the numerous challenges that plague the continent, a change in the style of leadership is required.

The President expressed his optimism that the continent can attain the level of development that it is striving for, given the resources and expertise at its disposal.

He, however, insisted that for this to be achieved, more needed to be done to empower women and the private sector to push the development agenda of the continent.

“The challenge in achieving the SDGs is indeed significant but I have ample cause for optimism. Africa has the talent, knowledge and resources to transition from poverty to prosperity. But for this to happen, it takes a different kind of leadership, one that is selfless and empowering. It will take smart and progressive policies that are enablers to growth and transformation,” he said.

“It will take innovative approaches to financing our development. It will take smart strategic partnerships. It will take fully unleashing the potential of the domestic private sector. It will take fully leveraging innovation and making it the currency of our development. And most importantly it will take the empowerment of Africa’s women. We must see the SGDs truly as an investment in our people to build better lives. because no group of persons has more to gain from the successful implementation of the SDGs than the African people,” the President added.

The event in Accra was also attended by the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, as well as chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki.

Also present was Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institution at Columbia University and other notable international dignitaries.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Dr. Ibin Chambas said this when he spoke on Wednesday at the inaugural UPSA Annual Leadership Lecture in Accra, organized by the University.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NRuMmJw8DZ69rpaZYtkfyivq5ksKS7Kr”]He said the youth have to be critical thinkers, and be able question the world around them, while also being able to identify existing challenges, power structures and barriers, to be able to expose contradictions and biases.

He also noted that, the youth must be change makers, stating that they should have the power to act and mobilize others, and do more to promote African culture.

“Young people have displayed remarkable talent and skill in developing and exposing African culture through the film and music industries, with far reaching influence. Today, Nollywood is the world’s second-largest cinematographic power in terms of the number of films since 2009, with a regular audience of an estimated at 150 million viewers,” he said.

“Also growing in the industry is Ghana and Kenya amongst others. Additionally, the African fashion industry is successfully promoting and cultivating African and African-inspired design talent on the continent and the world stage.”

Ibn Chambas,  a strong advocate of youth development, urged young Africans to be innovators and to proudly display their remarkable skills to the rest of the world.

According to him, when young people are empowered with the knowledge of their rights and supported to develop leadership skills, they can drive change in their communities and countries.

Ibn Chambas added that, the youth have to take the mantle into their own hands in creating the kind of Africa they want to live in by coming together and defining their own culture and value systems.

“The youths themselves must intentionally create a culture that encourages the building and shaping of the Africa that they want. The change they want begins with them coming together and developing their own culture and value system for thinking, planning, implementation, accountability, integrity, and collaboration. It is up to the African youth to step up shape the narrative of our continent, ” he said.

He also urged governments across the continent to engage youth from all walks of life on national issues in order to ensure their involvement in the quest to attain the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

“If countries are to succeed in achieving the SDGs, leaving no one behind along the way, governments must seek out an active and substantive engagement of young women and men from diverse backgrounds in national-level planning, implementation, and monitoring”

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By: Farida Yusif/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Speaking at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on Wednesday, Nana Addo stated that, ensuring universal access to education for all children on the continent within the next two decades, will greatly aid the improvement of the general standards of living on the continent.

[contextly_sidebar id=”kpBcrl2ST6n0fLkZWsaRZeVpwmdrl4M6″]”The [SDG] goals go together, the 17 of them are all interconnected and if we are going to get the impact we’re looking for then all 17 have to work together. Secondly, global outcomes, if they are to succeed, means that they have to succeed in Africa. Unfortunately, Africa, sitting on the greatest resources in the world also has the poorest populations. If the goals are to be seen to have succeeded, hey would have to have succeeded in Africa. The most important consideration for those of us given the privilege of political leadership is to find a way of selling the goals to our population as something that has a direct impact on their lives, not something created in New York by a group of politicians and bureaucrats,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned, the most important of them is education. If we can, and it’s eminently feasible, be in a situation whereby in 2030 we can say that all of Africa’s children are in schools and have access to quality education,  the impact of that on the development of the continent and the quality of life of the people will be enormous.”

The President launched the Free Senior High School Policy a couple of weeks ago, as part of measures to ensure that no child is unable to continue their education at the secondary level because of lack of funds.

According to Nana Addo, since the introduction of the policy, the number of students who would have missed out on Senior High School education has dropped by more than 30 percent.

“We’ve started in Ghana a system to ensure that there is free education all through the basic system – the basic system is defined as kindergarten, primary school, Junior High School and Senior High School. In the public system, all of those steps on the educational ladder are now free. The last plank was put in two weeks ago when I launched Free SHS in Ghana,” he stated.

“Until this year, on an average, 100, 000 Ghanaian youth dropped out of the educational system between JHS and SHS largely because their parents couldn’t afford it. So even though they had the educational qualification, they couldn’t take up their places in the SHS system. It would mean that in ten years in a country with a population of 27 million people, a million young people would have their education truncated at the JHS level and that’s an unacceptable cost for any society that seeks to organise on an intelligent basis. This year which is the first introduction of the system of Free SHS, the number has reduced from 100, 000 to 36, 000 with the policy very much in its infant years.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to her, although communal pipes and boreholes have been helpful, it was time government  provided water to households.

“Of course when the government, or a benevolent organisation or one of Ghana’s development partners, provides a deprived community with water by way of constructing a communal standpipe, or a well, it’s cause for celebration; a great achievement. But I suggest that the focus now should be shifting to the provision of household taps; tap water. It’s time the government and other providers went the extra mile and extended pipelines to homes, especially in deprived communities….. People should have taps in their homes!” she said.

Ajoa Yeboah-Afari also listed the harmful impact of trekking miles for water has on children and womenas.

“Sometimes, women and children have to walk for miles, looking for water. Some children even miss school, or are so tired by the time they turn up in class, that they can only doze and can’t pay attention to the lessons,” she lamented.

Ajoa Yeboah-Afari said this on Thursday at the launch of ‘Funding Opportunity for Ghanaian Journalists on SDGs Reporting’; an initiative of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

The initiative forms part of efforts to mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in development reporting in Ghana for social change and is funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ghana.

Executive Director of MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, in his remarks, charged journalists to help the nation to achieve the 17 SDGs.

“Whatever we are talking about, it can be related to a particular goal, target or indicator in the SDGs. And I think as media, our role and responsibility is to help by way of highlighting the issues, tracking what government is doing, highlighting what is happening in our various communities, the contributions of citizens and empowering our people with knowledge so that they can demand what is rightfully theirs; whether at the local assembly, at the regional level, or at the national level,” he urged.

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By: Akosua Ofewaa Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Speaking on Thursday as he inaugurated the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the SDG implementation, he noted that the realization of the SDGs will only be as good as how well they are financed.

He also said achieving the SDGs will require all the resources the country can muster.

“We must, therefore, be efficient and effective not only in mobilising resources, but also in eliminating pervasive revenue leaks, and addressing misallocation and misuse of public funds. Crucially, if we are to succeed in enhancing domestic financing of the SDGs, we must address the unacceptable leakage of resources in the form of wanton corruption,” the President stressed.

The President also revealed that government has also captured the SDGs in its coordinated programme for economic and social development policies, which, in accordance with the dictates of Article 36(5) of the Constitution of the Republic, will be presented to Parliament in October.

Inter-Ministerial Committee inaugurated

At the ceremony, which was also held to commemorate the President’s appointment as co-Chair of the Advocacy Group of Eminent Persons, President Akufo-Addo also inaugurated a 15-member Inter-Ministerial Committee for the implementation of SDGs.

He charged the Committee to discharge its duties efficiently and ensure that Ghana becomes a shining example for the implementation of the SDGs.

The Committee, which is chaired by the Minister for Planning, Prof. Gyan Baffuor, has the Ministers for Trade and Industry; Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration; Finance; Food and Agriculture; Attorney General; Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation; Monitoring and Evaluation; Education; Health; Sanitation and Water Resources; Local Government and Rural Development; Gender, Children and Social Protection; Employment and Labour Relations; and Fisheries and Aquaculture as members.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the completion of the SDGs in 2030, position future generations to overcome issues pertaining to poverty, climate change and environmental protection.

“This Agenda is an investment in our future – the future of our youth and that of our children. We are obliged to leave them with an enduring legacy of a richer, more stable, more secure and more peaceful world,” he said.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The award-winning actress, who is the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) Maternal Health Ambassador for West and Central Africa said African governments must take the leading steps in reversing the negative trends of maternal mortality and other health challenges affecting women.

She made the call during a special interactive session with the press in Accra.

While committing to intensify advocacy and education efforts on issues affecting women’s health and their rights, she said there is the need for the media to take keen interest in such developments and impress upon the government to address the existing challenges.

She said media organizations must use their platforms to hold government accountable for their promises and commitments to maternal health issues.

While admitting that the continent had made significant progress to reduce the incidents of maternal mortality, obstetric fistula among others, there is still much more to be done.

She said African countries must work towards completely eliminating barriers that hinder the development of women in society.

Stephanie Okereke noted that lack of access to health care, illiteracy among women, cultural barriers were among the challenges militating against of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She described as shameful the high incident of obstetric fistula in some parts of the continent although the condition is preventable.

About 1,300 women are affected by obstetric fistula yearly in Ghana.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The move is to help the successful implementation of the SDGs through the availability of high quality, timely and reliable data from both state and civil society actors.

The processes have already been carried out in the northern belt, comprising Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions, the middle belt made up of the Ashanti Region, Brong Ahafo, as well as the western belt, which comprised the Western and Central Regions. The Volta, Eastern and Greater Accra regions are yet to be engaged.

The Ghana Statistical Service is supporting in refining data among CSOs, and to have a common platform for all information related to the Sustainable Development Goals.  

Speaking to Citi News, Research Officer at CDD Ghana, Mohammed Awal, noted that there is a wide array of information with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals scatted among CSOs that if collated, could provide useful information with progress or otherwise of the SDGs.

“…The problem has been with the standardization of the methodology used to collect them. For the data to be accepted and used by the platform on the SDGs, it must have passed the standardization test of the Ghana Statistical Service and that is what we are trying to have with these engagements”.

The Western Regional Statistician, Ernest Nyarko, bemoaned the practice where some CSOs conduct surveys “in two or three districts and come to a conclusion that makes it appear as though it’s a representation of the country. To address that, the Ghana Statistical Service is developing a standardization data collection formats for MMDAs and Civil Society Organizations, which will help with compiling and reporting information that will be acceptable internationally and used by all”.

The Sustainable Development Goals platform coordinator, Rikki Sig Hansen, noted that, for the SDGs to be achieved, critical partners must share information amongst themselves.

She said, “This enables all the actors to make informed decisions and evidence-based advocacy for stronger results. There is an extreme power in the data civil society organisations are holding, and this can help inform all development plans for the achievement of the SDGs.”

Civil society actors in the western and central regions at the end of the engagement, unanimously agreed to share individual data available on the SDGs, and expressed their readiness to work side by side in ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals are achieved by 2030.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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These, according to President Akufo-Addo, represent Ghana’s path towards the realization of the 2030 United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda.

[contextly_sidebar id=”obR6ITfZ0TOgf0daMer4AJeMrquogYSL”]The President made this known on Friday, 9th June, 2017, when he called on His Excellency Peter Thomson, President of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, at the UN building in New York, USA.

With Ghana’s economy being largely dependent on the production and export of raw materials for many years, President Akufo-Addo noted this situation has resulted in Ghana’s economy being unable to create the necessary numbers of high-paying jobs that will enhance the living standards of the masses of the people.

It is for this reason, therefore, that President Akufo-Addo told Mr. Peter Thompson, that the addition of significant value to Ghana’s primary products, through initiatives, in collaboration with the private sector, such as the 1-District-1-Factory, is a priority of his government.

To this end, the President stated that his government has introduced a raft of policy measures aimed at creating an enabling environment for the private sector to flourish.

These measures, he added, will shift the focus of Ghana’s economy from taxation to production, and, hopefully, make Ghanaian businesses very competitive in West Africa, Africa and beyond.

From September 2017, he told the UN General Assembly’s President that his government has found and committed resources to begin the Free Senior High School policy.

Having inherited a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) indebted to the tune of some GH¢1.2 billion, which threatened the very survival of the scheme, President Akufo-Addo stated that his government has put in place measures to find the money to pay off the debt, and revive the NHIS.

The implementation of these policies, President Akufo-Addo noted, will put Ghana on the firm path towards progress and prosperity, as well as meeting the 15 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

As co-chair of the UN SDGs Advocates Group of Eminent Personalities, President Akufo-Addo stressed that, he together with all other members of the Advocates Group, will do all in their power to mobilize political support for the realization of the goals, and promote global development that leaves no one behind.

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Source: Flagstaff House

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The program was launched on the theme, “Promoting Community Development: The Role of the Muslim Clerics.”

It seeks to communicate ideas that will inspire, inform and motivate Muslim Clerics to join forces with development partners to transform their communities.

The spiritual leader of Masjid Qudwa who doubles as Chief Executive Officer of the Bamba Islamic Institute Ghana (BII-Ghana), Sheikh Amin Bamba decried the alarming rate of illiteracy in Muslim communities and called for a paradigm shift.

He maintained that illiteracy remained the cause of Muslim communities’ underdevelopment which required a multifaceted approach to overturn the situation.

“The key factor that has slowed down the pace of development of Ghanaian Muslims is high rate of illiteracy. Illiteracy has denied and continues to deny majority of our people critical information that they require to make informed economic, social and political decisions to improve their livelihood.”

“It is, therefore, logical to suggest that the appropriate strategy to address the illiteracy challenge is to use the United Nations’ concept of ‘partnership for the goals to package either relevant information or educational programs that can be delivered to the people through their religious and traditional representatives,” he stressed.

The renowned Muslim Cleric, Sheikh Bamba appreciated the role of the Christian Council of Ghana and the Catholic Bishops Conference contribution to nation building.

“The Muslim leadership, on the other hand, has not as a group made that much contribution largely due to inadequate capacity.”

He reaffirmed the BII-Ghana’s commitment to initiate capacity building workshops that will empower traditional and religious leaders to actively partake in decision-making processes.

Head of the UNFPA decentralised office in Tamale, Mammah Tenii underscored the need to bridge the development gap between northern and southern Ghana.

“There is no doubt that there is development gap between the Savannah zone and the remaining portions of the country. All indices of development point to this fact. Per the core principle of the SDGs, Northern Ghana cannot afford to be left behind.”

According to him, the 2010 Population and Housing Census report indicated that Muslims constituted 17.6 percent of Ghana’s total population and that Northern Region recorded a chunk of it.

“The UNFPA is convinced that actively engaging community leaders including religious and traditional authority will pave the way for increased support for reproductive health and family planning,” Mr. Tenii noted.

He appealed to other development partners to augment the UNFPA’s Sustainable Development Goals agenda.

The event brought together Muslim Clerics from all the sects in the Northern Region.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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