RCC holds workshop on Urban Poverty Reduction Project

Ho, Dec. 8, GNA- Mr. Kofi Dzamesi, Volta Regional Minister on Thursday cautioned the managers of the Social Investment Fund (SIF) not to be complacent over successes chalked in the implementation of previous projects.

Mr Dzamesi said this at a sensitisation workshop on Urban Poverty Reduction Project (UPRP) in Ho for 19 key stakeholders in the SIF in the Volta Region.

The workshop was to brief members of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) and other stakeholders about the objectives, components and implementation arrangements of the UPRP project, which forms part of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) II.

He said they should instead do everything possible and in the most effective and efficient way to manage the project successfully for the benefit of the target group.

Mr Dzamesi said it was important the main components of the project were executed to the latter, devoid of unnecessary overhead costs, which he said sometimes caused the failure of many well-thought and well-intentioned projects.

He said, " at this critical time in our development efforts, we as a Government will not take kindly to any ill executed project that is directed at improving the quality of life of our underprivileged compatriots".

Mr. Dzamesi therefore appealed to the Municipal and District Assemblies to collaborate and support the SIF to ensure that the project was satisfactorily executed in their various areas. Miss Ama Serwa Dapaa, Executive Director of SIF said the project would be implemented with benefits of lessons learned from the GPRS I, including the need to expand toward the more influential community members.

She said the project would also strengthen the partnerships that were forged under the first project, particularly with national research institutions and the private sector. The Urban Poverty Reduction Strategy is a five-year project through which government hopes to implement the Millenium Development Goals with a view to reducing by half the population of the poor living on one US dollar per day. The project, which will cost 41.6 million dollars, is to be funded by the African Development Bank with counterpart funding from the Government of Ghana.