Monday, 15th August, 2022

Page 6
DAILY ANALYST Monday, 15th August, 2022
from neutral bodies
– Yidana Zakaria
Mr Yidana Zakaria,
the North
East Regional
Minister,
has called on
stakeholders to identify key
neutral opinion leaders to
constantly sensitise people in
conflict areas for development to
thrive.
He said it was necessary to
seek engagements from neutral
bodies in curbing conflicts
among communities within
the northern belt of the country
because some of such conflicts
were fueled by chiefs and
traditional leaders, who were
expected to foster unity.
He made the call in Tamale
during a stakeholder meeting,
organised by the National
Development Authority (NDA).
The meeting was to co-create
a Medium Term Development
strategy for the northern zone
of the country in alignment
with strategic priorities of
development actors and to share
insights in planning the 2022
edition of the Northern Ghana
Development Summit and
Investment Fair.
It was attended by the
Northern, North East, Savannah,
Upper West and Upper East
Regional Ministers, and the
NDA’s development partners.
Mr Zakaria said the
intermittent communal conflicts
in the north had been a concern
over the years and hindered
development in the areas of
education and health and called
for continuous education on the
effects of conflicts in vulnerable
areas.
He called for intervention
from opinion and religious
leaders within the communities
to educate people on the
consequences of conflicts, saying
“Until we are able to address
the issues of conflict in the
northern part of this country,
we will continue to wallow in
the situations of poverty and its
Mr. Zakaria Yidana addressing the gathering
effects.”
He advised people of the
north to embrace peace and
acknowledge that peace was
instrumental in development,
adding that a problem in a
small community within the
north could compromise the
development of the whole area.
He said the international
community would not be pleased
to know that areas they wanted
to support engaged in conflicts.
The Regional Minister
further called on indigenes to
safeguard the peace of the north
and expressed displeasure over
people running to the southern
part of the country after creating
problems in the north.
Stop manufacturing
information
– ISD staff cautioned
Officers of the Information
Services Department
(ISD) have been
cautioned against
manufacturing information
and claiming it is true
reflection of citizens’ opinions or
feedback on policies and programmes
of the government.
Mr David Owusu Amoah, the
Acting Chief Information Officer,
ISD, who gave the caution, told
ISD officers that “If you manufacture
information, you are doing a
disservice to mother Ghana and
our relevance will be doubted.”
He was speaking at a training
workshop for Regional, Metropolitan,
Municipal and District
Information Officers drawn from
the five regions in the north on
data collection methodologies.
The two-day training, which
ended in Tamale on Saturday,
sought to enhance the research
skills of information officers to
conduct credible research over
time to help government review
and update its policies and programmes.
It was in line with the Memorandum
of Understanding signed
between the ISD and the Ghana
Statistical Service for the latter
to provide technical assistance to
the Research Division of the ISD
to conduct credible and reliable
research.
Besides the northern belt,
information officers from six
regions in the southern belt of
the country also benefited from
the training, leaving information
officers in the middle belt, who
would soon have their turn in
Kumasi.
Mr Amoah urged the information
officers to be steadfast to
their roles by going to the field
to gather information, and add
value to their research activities
to ensure that whatever information
they picked on the field
would be scientific and reliable.
Information officers work
to disseminate information on
policies and programmes of
government to the people and
gather data on people’s reaction
to government policies and programmes.
Mr Amoah urged them to
forge ahead to transform the ISD
such that its relevance would be
visible to all.
Tablets were presented to the
information officers during the
training to facilitate their work
to ensure improved performance.
Take advantage of “YouStart”
– Nurses and Midwives urged
Nurses and Midwives
should not put all
their trust in the
promise of Social and
National Insurance
Trust benefits but embrace the
“YouStart” programme to create
wealth and comfort even in their
retirement.
They have been charged to
be proactive and develop an entrepreneurial
mindset to create
value for money and make them
financially independent.
Mr Franklin Owusu-Karikari,
Director, Business Support and
Policy, National Entrepreneurship
and Innovation, gave the
advice in Accra at the closing
ceremony of a national Youth
Boot Camp for Nurses and Midwives
across the country to mark
International Youth Day which
falls on August 12.
The programme was organised
by the Ghana Registered
Nurses and Midwives Association
(GRNMA) on the theme:
“Intergenerational Solidarity in
Nursing and Midwifery: Creating
An Opportunity For All Ages in
Ghana.”
He said salaries alone cannot
sustain the socio-economic
expenditure of the citizenry and
encouraged all to have other
sources of income to meet the
rising expenditure pattern of the
individual.
Statistics revealed that 17.8
million people are unemployed,
of which 2.2 million people are
within the ages of 18-35.
Addressing the unemployment
issue, Mr Owusu- Karikari
said the Government introduced
the “YouStart” programme in
2020 as a vehicle to support the
youth to develop commercially
viable businesses, gain access to
capital, training and technical
skills to enable them operate
their businesses.
The YouStart programme,
he stated, would support young
graduates, school leavers and
small businesses with soft loans
of up to GHS 50,000 to expand
their enterprises.
The initiative provides the
youth-led enterprises with a
standard loan package of between
GHS100,000 to GHS 400,000 at
concessional rates for Small and
Medium Enterprises through the
financial institutions.
The Ghana Enterprises Agency
is implementing the programme
in its 16 regional offices,
business advisory and resource
centres across the country.
Mr Owusu-Karikari urged
health practitioners to seek for
information and build their
retirement future, saying, “you
need to take your destiny into
your hands and have other sources
of income.”
Dr Samuel Adjorlolo, Senior
Lecturer, School of Nursing and
Midwifery, University of Ghana,
Legon advised health professionals
to assist each other through
mentorship and training to provide
quality health care delivery.
Dr Adjorlolo called for unity
among them, stating that there
could not be growth in every
institution without togetherness
and social cohesion.
He called on the authorities to
review the 30 per cent admission
protocol reserved for the Ministry
of Health into the School of
Nursing and Midwifery to avoid
politicisation of the profession.
Mrs Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo,
the President, GRNMA, said the
Association would continue to
fight for the interest of its members
to better their socio-economic
circumstances.
She said the Association had
established a Youth Committee
to recognised the contribution of
young health professionals and
mentor them on issues relating
to their operations to improve
health care across the country.
Mrs Ofori-Ampofo advised
the participants to be agents of
change and impart positively on
the knowledge they acquired in
advancing the healthcare profession.
Mr Prince Opuni Frimpong,
Chairman, Greater Accra, GRNMA,
called on authorities to develop
strategic policies to connect and
support health professionals to
improve service delivery.