Northern Region GJA to collaborate with NGOs to fight poverty

Tamale, July 2, GNA - Mr. Alidu Baba, Northern Regional chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), on Tuesday said the association would collaborate with NGOs operating in the region to fight poverty, disease and conflicts.

He said such problems needed a multi-facet approach to solve to ensure that the north gained the recognition it deserved to attract investments.

Mr. Baba said this in Tamale when he addressed journalists at a press soiree organised by the Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) an NGO to commend journalists in for their efforts in promoting peace and development in the region. The purpose was also to enable CCFC to fraternise and outline its development agenda for the region so that the public would appreciate its presence in the Northern Region.

Mr. Baba said it was necessary for NGOs, particularly those in peace building and poverty eradication, to collaborate with the media in the region by constantly organising workshops that would help in conflict preventing to ensure that the 2008 election is violent free. He appealed to the NGOs not to relent in their efforts to partner the GJA in the region to embark on aggressive programmes targeting the youth, chiefs, women and children so that problems associated them would be solved.

Madam Sanatu Nantogmah, Country Director of the CCFC, stressed the significant role the media play in transforming society. She said the NGO had a special package for deprived children and their families as well as needy communities and appealed to the media not to hesitate in helping CCFC to undertake its development activities. Ms Carol Froom, Vice President, Marketing and Communication in Canada, CCFC head quarters, said the NGO was operating in more than 50 countries and had so far spent about 147 million dollars in the past five years to help communities in sub-Sahara Africa.