Author: lwadmin

The Queenmother of Kpando Gadza, Mama Kodzogasi II, has supported 34 women in the production of liquid soap, shower gel, hair balm, body lotion and ointment.

The three days training, with support from Sankoofa Enlightenment Foundation and Resa Det Enterprises, is the first of series of training programmes by the Queenmother to empower the women in her community and Kpando as a whole.

Some beneficiaries described the training as life-changing and called for more for of such engagements to enhance their lots.

During the launch of the programme, an executive member of Sankoofa Foundation, Mr Derek Offei Antwi-Boasiako, said the Foundation was working to train more women in the country.

After the training, all the 34 women were supported with soft loans to kickstart their businesses.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of Institute of Industrial Research (CSIR-IIR) Cookstove Laboratory has secured an accreditation to test all improved commercial cookstoves.

This follows the successful completion of an inter lab comparison test involving three countries, supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States of America (USA).

The Centre now conducts series of tests, including efficiency, water boiling, durability, quality control to ascertain if the level of smoke from the cookstove is low and harmless to users.

Dr Ferdinard Tornyie, a scientist at CSIR-IIR, said this during the working visit of Mr Michael S. Regan, the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency to the Cookstove Lab in Accra, which serves other West African countries.

It forms part of activities to deepen collaboration between Ghana and the US to share solutions on range of issues, including the promotion of clean energy cookstoves, climate change and illegal mini
ng.

Dr Tornyie said the Centre was seeking to ensure that all improved cookstoves were efficient and contributed to improve health of users, reduce air pollution, deforestation, and contribute to the global goal of reducing emission.

He stated that a new Legislative Instrument; Cookstove Standard and Labeling, had been enacted to compel all cookstoves to pass the required tests and have a sticker from the Energy Commission – a move similar to ‘Star’ ratings on refrigerators and air conditioners.

Mr Regan noted that the U.S was committed to continuing with the collaboration with officials of the Centre to ensure Ghana had the best and most efficient cookstoves to address climate change concerns and public health.

He explained that the contribution of cookstoves to air pollution and the climate crisis was ‘big’ and hence the US’s commitment to share and develop a much stronger expertise.

‘We care about public health, especially women who use the cookstove and that is why we want to co-develop and share sol
utions to save lives,’ he said.

Dr. Francis Boateng Agyenim, Director, CSIR-IIR, told the Ghana News Agency that smoke from inefficient cookstoves made users sick and was killing many.

‘I have lived in the village and I have seen and can attest to how inefficient cookstoves affect the health of users. Physically people’s eyes swell and their lungs are affected too,’ he said.

He noted that many river bodies and vegetation had disappeared in local communities partly due to drought associated with climate crisis and also felling of trees to power inefficient cookstoves.

‘There are real examples around us. If we continue to use the firewood and charcoal without finding effective ways of ensuring sustainability, we are hurting our plant and causing existential threats,’ he added.

Poor air quality in Ghana is mainly caused by cooking using wood and charcoal, road transport, slash-and-burn methods of farming, open waste burning, energy generation, accidental fires and industry.

While deaths from household air
pollution have decreased since 1997, deaths from outdoor air pollution have increased.

More than 70 per cent of Ghanaians use biomass fuel, such as firewood, charcoal, and agricultural waste for cooking, which expose them to harmful air pollutants.

Around 13,400 deaths occur per year in Ghana from smoke related illnesses attributable to household air pollution from the use of biomass fuel for cooking.

Due to their high exposure to cookstoves in the home, children under the age of five are considered most vulnerable.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The African Chamber of Content Producers (ACCP) and the African University College of Communication (AUCC) have teamed up to train Pan-African journalists and content creators to provide them the skills to champion Pan-Africanism and rebrand the continent’s narrative.

The programme, starting in the later part of February 2024, would span three days and would have renowned Pan-African professors from AUCC as resource persons.

This would help build on the success of the maiden Africa Image Conference held in May 2023, where Prof Michael Williams and Dr Anu Oluwakemi Wale-Olaitan ignited discussions on Pan Africanism Communication.

A statement signed by Dr Kemi Olaitain, the Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, AUCC, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said: ‘This partnership is a natural extension of our commitment to Pan-Africanism.’

‘We believe in providing educational opportunities that serve the entire African sub-region and beyond. This training programme is a crucial step in equipping c
ommunicators with the tools they need to promote a united and prosperous Africa.’

Prof Michael Williams and Dr Olaitain presented the first series of lectures on Pan Africanism Communication during the inaugural Africa Image Conference in May last year.

Building on this success, the upcoming training programme would be a three-day intensive workshop scheduled for the last week of February.

‘We are focusing on pan Africanism and infusing it in all the courses that we teach at the university, so subsequently the public should expect that we come up with other projects that will boost this Pan-African vision,’ the statement said.

‘Our collaboration with the ACCP is one of such big projects that should be expected, because we are collaborating with the Chamber to promote Pan-African values and to help content producers to be able to see things from the Pan-African perspective.’

‘Whatever they are posting, writing, or designing should be seen through the lens of Pan Africanism as long as it’s coming from Afri
ca, just to promote Africa and our values, culture and everything.’

Mr Dwomoh-Doyen Benjamin, the Executive Director of the ACCP, was a staunch advocate for unity and development across the continent, it said.

‘He believes that effective communication is a pivotal tool in speeding up the realisation of these goals. Strategic communication that encapsulates the diversity of the African experience and aspirations can forge stronger bonds among African nations, expediting unity and growth.’

The statement said Mr Dwomoh-Doyen envisioned a future where shared narratives and effective communication propelled continental development and unity.

The Vice President of ACCP, Mr George Egeh, who holds a dual citizenship of Ghana and Nigeria, highlighted the vital role of communication in promoting unity and understanding.

‘A lack of clear communication can lead to misunderstandings and even conflict,’ he was quoted as saying, and noted the communication contrasts between Ghana and Nigeria, highlighting that misunder
standing could be a precursor to strife.

The programme would not only equip participants with valuable knowledge but also provide them with recognition.

Members of ACCP and participants in the first lectures would receive certificates from AUCC as certified Pan African communicators.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghanaian Law students have been urged to help prevent drug policies, measures and legislations that work against the rehabilitation of substance abusers.

The students were asked to not only play roles in the prevention of the use and circulation of drugs (cocaine, marijuana, tramadol e.t.c) but also be critical of incarceration of abusers and lack of rehabilitation centres.

The call was made by drug policies and legislations advocates at a day’s hybrid workshop for tertiary students and faculty members in Ghana by POS Foundation on the theme: ‘Substance Use and Prevention: A Comparative Dialogue between Ghana and the USA’s Drug Policy.’

Participating universities were GIMPA Law School, Ghana, Adler University, Chicago, Illinois and Columbia University, New York and Fordham University, New York and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) with the students sharing their perspectives.

Jonathan Osei Owusu, Executive Director, POS Foundation, said drug users should be given a second chance in society if they
had not committed any crime after using the drug, saying the law students had a responsibility to ensure a drug regulation system that prevented usage and reformed society.

‘We have been fighting drugs for a very long time all over the world. The use has not gone down. There’s the need to sit back, make some assessment and reforms. It is better not to take abusers to prison but give them support,’ he said.

Mr Owusu said the Narcotics Control Act, Act 1019, saw drug use and abuse as a public health concern and subsequently mandated the State to put up rehabilitation and treatment centres for problematic users (drug addicts) so they could come back to society as normal people.

‘If the State fails in preventing the circulation of the drugs, why must the State jail these young people for using drugs it had failed to combat,’ he said.

Madam Maria-Goretti Ane Loglo, Lawyer and IDPC Consultant for Africa, said the people languishing in jail because of drug use had been the younger population, a situation we had
to avert because there had been lack of jobs to engage them.

‘As a country we also need to revisit the fines given to offenders. The fines are very high and many of the people cannot afford. The State must resource the Fund to help in rehabilitation and put up rehabilitation centres that are accessible and less expensive,’ she said.

Mr Sefa Kissi Ebenezer, President, GIMPA Law School Student Association, told the Ghana News Agency, that the seminar had been an eye opener and had enlightened them on how to provide assistance to end-users.

‘We are coming up with a journal where students can publish articles on specific provisions of narcotics control law that do not promote the interest and development of substance abusers. We are ready to take the mantle,’ he said

Source: Ghana News Agency