Plan Ghana to focus on building capacities

Wa, Aug. 28, GNA - Plan Ghana would concentrate on building the capacities of communities to manage projects it had executed in its operational areas instead of expanding its operations to cover more communities, Mr Samuel Paulos, Country Director of Plan International has said.

Speaking during a courtesy call on Mr Ambrose Dery, the Upper West Regional Minister as part of a two-day working visit to the region, Mr Paulos said experience had shown that when you expand operations too much the impact was not always felt.

He said this in response to an appeal by the Regional Minster to extend its activities, comprising mostly the provision of educational and agricultural facilities to cover other districts in the region. Plan Ghana currently operates in the Wa Municipality, Sissala East and Sissala West Districts of the region.

Mr Paulos said the main vision of Plan Ghana was to make facilities available to as many children as possible to enable them use them to realize their potential and lead worthy lives.

Mr Dery acknowledged the crucial role Plan Ghana was playing in the region especially in the development of infrastructure in the Education and Agriculture sectors.

"People on the ground say very positive things about your contribution to their development" he stated. Malnutrition, the regional Minister noted, was a very serious problem in the region and appealed to Plan Ghana to join hands with the government in ensuring that many school children in the region were included in the school-feeding programme. He also called for support for the construction of small-scale irrigation schemes, which he believed, would promote dry season agriculture; thereby reduce poverty in the area.