105 projects undertaken under HIPC Fund in Eastern Region

Koforidua, May 27, GNA- A total of l05 projects have been initiated in 15 districts of the Eastern Region under the HIPC Initiative from January to December last year, Mr Raphael Nyadzi, Chief Economic Planning officer of the Eastern Region Coordinating Council (ERCC) said on Wednesday.

Presenting a paper of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) and the monitoring of projects funded with HIPC in the region at Koforidua, he said cost of each project was between 15 million cedis and 541 million cedis.

He was speaking at a two-day workshop for civil society organisations from the districts in the region. It was organised by the Social Enterprise Development Foundation of West Africa (SEND) in collaboration with the Awisa Women Self-help Association (AWISA) and Women in Agro Technology (AGROTECH).

The workshop is to enable the participants, have knowledge about the GPRS document and monitor HIPC funds and projects at the district level.

Mr Nyadzi said 46 of the projects were completed with 44 of them half done while 15 of them are in the initial stages. He said the projects are made of 52 educational projects, 42 on sanitation, eight on health and two on good drinking water.

He said in December last year, the office of ERCC paid a routine monitoring visit to all the districts to check on the utilisation of the District Assembly Common Fund and the HIPC.

He explained that the GPRS was introduced to enable all Ghanaians to participate in wealth creation and ensure economic growth and poverty reduction.

Mr Nyadzi stressed that the effectiveness of policies, programmes and projects is achieved through monitoring and evaluation.

He expressed the hope that the participants would suggest ways and how civil society organisations could be effectively involved in the monitoring the implementation of public projects.