UN Millennium Village Project receives communication equipment

Watreso (Ash.), Sept. 23, GNA - The United Nations (UN) Millennium Village Project Cluster in the Amansie West District has taken delivery of communication equipment to serve the twin objective of promoting Information Communication Technology (ICT) education and prompt response to emergencies.

The equipment included two toll free numbers, 10 fixed wireless terminals and 30 SIM cards and they were given to schools and health centres.

Zain Ghana, a mobile telecommunication company and Ericsson, a company that manufactures telephone handsets, donated them. The "Millennium Villages" are an investment towards a sustainable end to extreme poverty.

It is an initiative by the world body to end poverty by working with the poorest of the poor throughout Africa in partnership with governments and other stakeholders and provides affordable and science-based solutions to help the people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.

Mr Philip Sowah, Country Manager of Zain, said this would help to improve the quality of health care delivery to people in the cluster and to ensure success of the one laptop per child project being piloted at Bonsaaso in the project area.

Mr Jonathan Khan, an official of Ericsson, said the partnership with Zain was in support of efforts at hastening Ghana's achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs') by 2015.

He said they have planned to build "3G" mobile masts in the cluster.

Mr Samuel Asare Afram, the Villages Cluster Manager, said they were grateful for the donation and that technology was an effective transformation tool that was needed to put more speed into socio-economic progress of Africa.