By Isabella Gyau Orhin
Ghana has come a long way in educating its children 50 years after independence.
While all will agree that a lot has been achieved over the past 50 years in terms of basic education, one can also argue that a lot remains unattained and this is what we should reflect on as a nation as we celebrate 50 years of independence and chart a new course for the future.
The first Education Ordinance in the country was passed in 1852 under Governor Stephen Hill. It was to provide for the better education of the inhabitants of Her Majesty’s forts and settlements on the Gold Coast. The ordinance failed due to the refusal of the people to bear the cost of education through the Poll Tax. Another Education Ordinance in 1882 brought two categories of primary schools in the country. “Government” and “assisted” schools. The latter were run by non-government bodies. The government policies had no influence on education in Asante and the Northern Territories until the annexation of Asante by the British in 1901, and the establishment of the Northern Territories Protectorate at about the same time.
Writing about Ghana’s education in 2004, Joe Kinsley Eyiah a then PhD student of the University Of Toronto, Canada quoted McWilliam and Kwamena-Poh (1975) as saying that it was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that Ghana began to take first steps towards a state-organized education. Before then informal systems of education had been the main way in which Ghanaian communities prepared their members for citizenship. It is interesting to note that in Ghana the first “school” was the home: the “teachers” were the parents and the elders in the family. The “curriculum” was life and learning was by observation. According to McWilliam and Kwamena-Poh, the first major purpose of such education was the inculcation of good character and good health in the young members of the community. The second was to give them adequate knowledge of their history, beliefs and culture, thus enabling them to participate fully in social life. It could be seen from the foregoing comment that the purpose of non-formal education since the beginning of the Ghanaian society has been for national development.
Mission Schools followed the Castle Schools with the arrival of the Missions in the country. The Wesleyan and Basel Missionaries established schools in Cape Coast, Dixcove, Anomabu, Accra, all along the coast and Akropong, few miles away from the coast respectively in the 1830s and 1850s.
Governor Guggisberg brought improvement to the economic, health and education sectors of the country. In 1920 he established the Educationists’ Committee which recommendations saw tremendous expansion to the education system in the Gold Coast. Later, in the 1940s under the rule of Governor Burns the desire for compulsory education for all children in the country engineered the Accelerated Development Plan for Education in Ghana. This was to be given a big attention in post-independent Ghana under the Premiership of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. (see the Accelerated Development Plan for Education, Accra, 1951).According to Eyiah, The rapid development notwithstanding education practices in northern Ghana present one of the many education inequalities and disparities of the system of education that the country inherited from the colonial powers. Educational development in the north is very recent compared to the south. In addition, people in northern Ghana are underserved by the nation’s educational system. The area has few schools when compared to number of children of school going age. The northern area also has high pupil to teacher ratio, most of the teachers who are recruited lack pre-service training, and the state of school infrastructure in that part of the country is comparatively poor.
Eyiah continues that after Ghana attained independence from British Colonial rule on March 6, 1957 education became a high priority on the government’s agenda. There were policies on free compulsory basic education, free textbooks for all students and, the creation of local education authorities with responsibilities for buildings, equipment and maintenance grants for primary schools there was a dramatic increase in the number of elementary and secondary schools during the regime of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah which was overthrown in a military coup in 1966.Though a new education committee under Professor Kwapong was appointed immediately after the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to fix the weakness in Ghana’s education, at the close of the 1970s, Ghana’s education could only be described as “decayed” and needed organic rejuvenation. The decay was a result of political instability with its resulting poor management, corruption, and general macroeconomic turmoil According to Eyiah’s analysis, by the 1980s, Ghana’s education system had become dysfunctional. Serious challenges confronted it. In 1988, the military government of Jerry John Rawlings implemented broad reforms that touched all levels of the education system and attempted to address the recurring issues affecting the system. The reforms reduced pre-university education in the country from 17 years to 12 years (six years of primary, three years of junior secondary-JSS and three years of senior secondary-SSS education). There was also national literacy campaign through non-formal education for school drop-outs and adult learners. The civilian government of Ghana under President J.J. Rawlings in 1996 implemented the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (fCUBE). This was specially designed to focus on basic education access and quality through improving the quality of teaching and learning, efficiency in management and, increasing access and local participation.Since President John Kufuor took over the reins of the country in January 2001, a lot of programmes have been introduced. These include the capitation grant, the school feeding programme among others which have improved enrolment at the basic level to about 16 percent.
However improvement is rather on the low side.
Many graduates of such institutions have low literary skills.
While some have blamed this on lack of logistics, others lay it at the doorstep of government taking over missionary schools that were instilling discipline and moral education into children at the time.
Writing about his mission school over 30 year in a BBC report titled “Moralising education in Ghana,” ace Ghanaian Journalist Kwaku Sakyi-Addo praised the Aburi Boys school which was a Presbyterian boarding school where he enrolled at the age of 10.
Sakyi-Addo says the training he had build his character and his skills.
“The teacher's essential tool was the rod. We could not allow our minds to wander. We had to focus,” adding, “Poor academic work was simply not tolerated. It was dealt with in a Spartan manner, we had to be bright or we were sorry. There was no third way.”
He further said that rudeness was crushed mercilessly; insubordination met with serious consequences, and truants were treated to "shock and awe", long before Donald Rumsfeld conceived of its efficacy.
“As for stealing, the authorities bombed and deleted the entire concept out of our frame of reference. We just didn't go there,” Sakyi-Addo narrated of his basic education.
According to him, Aburi Boys wasn't an exception.
The school and the educational system at the time reflected that stern Biblical paradigm of proper child rearing: "spare the rod, and spoil the child".
“After all, the churches ran most of the schools. Indeed, until the government took over the missionary schools that were largely what the Ghanaian society knew as the appropriate method of bringing up a disciplined and well-rounded child.
There were other values which Sakyi-Addo believed complemented the education system.
“Back then, in small towns and villages across Ghana, every child was every adult's responsibility. Any adult had the unspoken mandate to discipline any child whom they found behaving badly in public.”
Civil society groups are constantly reminding the government of its mandate to provide equitable education for all. Article 38(2) of the 1992
Constitution of the Republic of Ghana says “all persons….the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities”.
To achieve this right, the constitution provides that basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all.
According to the Ghana national Education Coalition Campaign (GNECC) chaired by the Integrated Social Development Centre, (ISODEC) the stark reality, ten years after the launch of the FCUBE programme, is that the goal of universal coverage and free basic education remain implausible.
Indeed the report of the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ)
for 2003 showed high drop-out rates at the basic level of education.
According to the report, 25% of children between ages 6-17 dropped out of school because of the cost of education.
This obviously has dire implications for the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goal (MDG) on education, which enjoins all countries to work towards achieving universal
access to primary education by the year 2015.
Speaking at the launch of a national deworming day exercise in Accra last week, the deputy Minister for education Science and Sports Kwame Ampofo Twumasi said Ghana as a nation has committed it self to education for all.
“As a result of the good policies, we have put in place, last year we had 16 percent increase in enrolment,” he said adding, “the challenges are there but as a government we are working to achieve them.”
For Eyiah If Ghana as a country would revisit its pre-independence high standard in education then the government will have to make education a top priority and commit more resources to ensuring the rejuvenation of the country’s education system.
The World Development Report (WDR) 2006 of the World Bank says in today’s globalised world, with competition largely on the basis of skills and ideas, countries need to cultivate latent talent wherever it may reside.
The report further said while acknowledging the important equity dimension of policies for tertiary education, discussions should be devoted primarily to policies that expand access and quality of basic education
“Motivated and talented children from poorer households deserve the opportunity to excel as much as their wealthier peers,” the report said adding, “there is a case for public action to enhance equity in learning so that outcomes reflect not merely circumstances of luck, parental endowments, socio cultural environment, birth place, one dedicated teacher but genuine differences in preferences effort and talent consistent with the notion of opportunities.”
Source; Public Agenda Newspaper, Ghana
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Africa can help itself out of poverty
By Isabella Gyau Orhin
An advisor to the Vice President and Manger of the Partnership Group of the World Bank in Africa Prof. Benno Ndulu has called on Africans to work very hard to move the continent out of poverty and economic malaise.
Speaking at a media interaction programme organized by the Ghana Journalists Association in collaboration with the World Bank in Accra Prof. Ndulu. an African National from Tanzania said “Success is not foreign to Africa, countries have made it and a third of African countries have improved over the past two decades.”
The discussion was on the report of a study dubbed Facing the challenges of African Growth: Opportunities, Constraints, and Strategic Directions which refers to four constraints facing Africa. These consist of Infrastructure, Investment, Innovation and Institutions. .
He said Africa holds a very huge proportion of their wealth outside the continent. In 1990, he said the wealth of Africa outside the continent was said to be around 300 billion dollars. Now it has grown to about 600 billion dollars.
“This is what gives me hope that we can build on these and fix things,” he said stressing “Nobody will do it for us.”
He said over the years African countries like Mauritius and Bostwana have moved forward with Mauritius relying on its manufactured export led market while Bostwana has developed through its natural resource base. He said countries like Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda have also moved forward economically.
He said a country like Nigeria has a lot of money coming in a result of its oil and the nation can make good use of that resource.
While the global business environment is a major concern that cannot be ignored, Prof. Ndulu said Africans can do a lot in spite of the global business climate.
“How much leverage do we have in changing the world environment as opposed to what we can do with what we have?”
Speaking in his Capacity as an African Scholar, Prof. Ndulu said a lot of things happen within African countries which must be transcended if Africa is to make headway in economic development.
He the leadership of African countries over the years have been worried about local people having businesses and becoming rich for fear that they may use their wealth to sponsor opposition party activities. “As these are going on foreigners with money are not questioned,” he said adding, “what is good for the foreign investor is also good for he local investor as well.
Speaking about the activities of the world bank in Africa, Prof. Ndulu said within the bank lessons have been learnt than wholesale privatization is not good enough and does not solve the problems of African countries as envisaged earlier.
For me, the modus operandi is the Public Private Partnership (PPP).
Some of the lessons learned he said are that infrastructure to a large extent is a public good. For instance he said investing in the rail sector is dangerous for the private sector. The Public sector can play a major role in financing while the private sector sees to the management of it,” he said.
He said privatization of telecommunications has done better but water and infrastructure has been the toughest.
The Lead Economist of he African Region of the World Bank Zeljko Bogetic said Ghana’s recent improvements in growth is attributable to improved macro economic stability, accompanied by rising investment, productivity and higher aid.
He said over the past five to six years, Ghana’s growth accelerated significantly from a 35 year average of 2.7 percent to 5.6 percent. “An important part of the recent growth appears to be driven by productivity gains partly from agriculture such as the cocoa sector.
The cocoa sector he said has registered important improvements due to productivity enhancing measures such as disease control, use of proper varieties and fertilizers on small privately owned farms.
In spite of this Bogetic says productivity in Ghana is still below some of the most dynamic African economies and rapidly growing Asian countries.
He said Ghana is now one of the top five policy performers in Africa. He said Ghana enjoys favourable coastal position and many natural resources, but spatial constraints and urbanisation pose challenges to efficient and rapid expansion of private investments and exports.
Agricultural produce he said must be moved from village to market and produce must be standardised, refrigerated and efficiently transported and exported through the ports. This he said requires market and logistics infrastructure.
Source: Public Agenda newspaper, Ghana
An advisor to the Vice President and Manger of the Partnership Group of the World Bank in Africa Prof. Benno Ndulu has called on Africans to work very hard to move the continent out of poverty and economic malaise.
Speaking at a media interaction programme organized by the Ghana Journalists Association in collaboration with the World Bank in Accra Prof. Ndulu. an African National from Tanzania said “Success is not foreign to Africa, countries have made it and a third of African countries have improved over the past two decades.”
The discussion was on the report of a study dubbed Facing the challenges of African Growth: Opportunities, Constraints, and Strategic Directions which refers to four constraints facing Africa. These consist of Infrastructure, Investment, Innovation and Institutions. .
He said Africa holds a very huge proportion of their wealth outside the continent. In 1990, he said the wealth of Africa outside the continent was said to be around 300 billion dollars. Now it has grown to about 600 billion dollars.
“This is what gives me hope that we can build on these and fix things,” he said stressing “Nobody will do it for us.”
He said over the years African countries like Mauritius and Bostwana have moved forward with Mauritius relying on its manufactured export led market while Bostwana has developed through its natural resource base. He said countries like Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda have also moved forward economically.
He said a country like Nigeria has a lot of money coming in a result of its oil and the nation can make good use of that resource.
While the global business environment is a major concern that cannot be ignored, Prof. Ndulu said Africans can do a lot in spite of the global business climate.
“How much leverage do we have in changing the world environment as opposed to what we can do with what we have?”
Speaking in his Capacity as an African Scholar, Prof. Ndulu said a lot of things happen within African countries which must be transcended if Africa is to make headway in economic development.
He the leadership of African countries over the years have been worried about local people having businesses and becoming rich for fear that they may use their wealth to sponsor opposition party activities. “As these are going on foreigners with money are not questioned,” he said adding, “what is good for the foreign investor is also good for he local investor as well.
Speaking about the activities of the world bank in Africa, Prof. Ndulu said within the bank lessons have been learnt than wholesale privatization is not good enough and does not solve the problems of African countries as envisaged earlier.
For me, the modus operandi is the Public Private Partnership (PPP).
Some of the lessons learned he said are that infrastructure to a large extent is a public good. For instance he said investing in the rail sector is dangerous for the private sector. The Public sector can play a major role in financing while the private sector sees to the management of it,” he said.
He said privatization of telecommunications has done better but water and infrastructure has been the toughest.
The Lead Economist of he African Region of the World Bank Zeljko Bogetic said Ghana’s recent improvements in growth is attributable to improved macro economic stability, accompanied by rising investment, productivity and higher aid.
He said over the past five to six years, Ghana’s growth accelerated significantly from a 35 year average of 2.7 percent to 5.6 percent. “An important part of the recent growth appears to be driven by productivity gains partly from agriculture such as the cocoa sector.
The cocoa sector he said has registered important improvements due to productivity enhancing measures such as disease control, use of proper varieties and fertilizers on small privately owned farms.
In spite of this Bogetic says productivity in Ghana is still below some of the most dynamic African economies and rapidly growing Asian countries.
He said Ghana is now one of the top five policy performers in Africa. He said Ghana enjoys favourable coastal position and many natural resources, but spatial constraints and urbanisation pose challenges to efficient and rapid expansion of private investments and exports.
Agricultural produce he said must be moved from village to market and produce must be standardised, refrigerated and efficiently transported and exported through the ports. This he said requires market and logistics infrastructure.
Source: Public Agenda newspaper, Ghana
Gov’t asked to change language and format of budget
By Isabella Gyau Orhin
A new study dubbed “Building the Demand Side of Good Governance: Enhancing conditions for Social Accountability in Ghana” has recommended that government should among others review the language and format of the national budget to make it simple for citizens to understand and participate in its formulation.
The study said for instance instead of saying “macro economic indicators,” the budget should say “intended progress in human development outcomes.”
The study also said government should support civil society efforts such as those undertaken by Centre for Budget Advocacy (CBA) of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) to undertake independent budget analysis and to promote public understanding of budget content and key issues.
The study was undertaken by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) and the World Bank.
According to the study, citizen’s access to financial and budget information is particularly difficult and limited.
This seriously hinders participatory budgeting, independent budget analysis and expenditure tracking.
The study therefore recommended that government should make available information and processes related to the national budget and expenditures more open and accessible.
The government was also asked to make in-year reports, audit reports, Public Accounts Committee reports and reports on extra- budgetary activities available to the public.
Again, government according to the study recommendations should expedite the implementation of the 2003 Public Procurement Act including programmes for institution and capacity building as recommended in World Bank/IMF report of 2004.
The study further urged government to introduce the requirement for public officials to declare their assets, form a task force of government and civil society representatives to explore ways for improving access to data on public transfers and expenditures in sectors of priority and public interest.
According to the CDD-WB study, it will be important for government to introduce formal mechanisms for citizens and Civil Society organizations to make input into budget policies and debate.
“At the local level, government should continue to build upon piloting of composite budgeting and participatory budgeting process,” the study said.
In a reaction to the research report, the Head of the Budget Development Unit of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Ms. Eva Mends said the doors of the ministry are always open to all those looking for information on the national budget.
She said very few individuals and organizations have shown interested in contributing to the budget.
She said each stage of the budget process is transparent and citizens as well as civil society groups can participate and send their contributions or seek information on it.
Aside from that, she said the budget is sent to Parliament with detailed estimates, but neither the Civil Society organizations nor the media follow-up to pick up the issues for public discussion and debate.
She said although, the budget processes are technical, so much can be done to break down the technical aspects of it.
Until public interest in the budget processes are whipped up, Ms. Mends said it would be difficult to build the demand side of good governance and social accountability.
“While acknowledging that a lot needs to be done, we should also try and build the capacity of the public to participate in the budget processes,” she said.
A policy Analyst with the CBA Nicholas Adamtten said over the past five or six years, the Centre has been working on the national budget, analyzing it and involving citizens in budget debates debate.
He said there are other offices in the Ministry where it is difficult to access information and this discourages the public from taking part in the budget processes.
Mr. Adamten said access to information in the districts is very difficult and called on the Ministry of Finance to simplify ways of getting access to financial information in the districts.
Speaking at the Stakeholder Review Workshop on the study, the Executive Director of CDD Ghana Prof. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi said it is clear that there has been considerable progress in fostering public accountability in Ghana since the return to democratic rule under the constitution of the Fourth Republic. However he said few will deny that serious deficits remain in national efforts to institutionalize public accountability.
“The deficits are severe especially in the demand side of accountability which is a necessary complement to the supply side as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.”
According to him, the 1992 constitution supplies a good framework for public accountability but there is insufficient citizen demand on state institutions and officials accountability. “This is where social accountability comes in, it is a fancy term describing citizen actions to secure accountability on the part of the state and its agencies and officials,” Prof. Gyimah-Boadi said.
The research report was developed and produced by the Participation and Civic Engagement Group of the World Bank with guidance and contribution by Beatrix Allah-Mensah and Kofi Marrah both of World Bank Ghana office and Carmen Monico.
In country research for the study was undertaken by the CDD under the leadership of Prof. Gyimah Boadi.
Source: Public Agenda Newspaper, Ghana
A new study dubbed “Building the Demand Side of Good Governance: Enhancing conditions for Social Accountability in Ghana” has recommended that government should among others review the language and format of the national budget to make it simple for citizens to understand and participate in its formulation.
The study said for instance instead of saying “macro economic indicators,” the budget should say “intended progress in human development outcomes.”
The study also said government should support civil society efforts such as those undertaken by Centre for Budget Advocacy (CBA) of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) to undertake independent budget analysis and to promote public understanding of budget content and key issues.
The study was undertaken by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) and the World Bank.
According to the study, citizen’s access to financial and budget information is particularly difficult and limited.
This seriously hinders participatory budgeting, independent budget analysis and expenditure tracking.
The study therefore recommended that government should make available information and processes related to the national budget and expenditures more open and accessible.
The government was also asked to make in-year reports, audit reports, Public Accounts Committee reports and reports on extra- budgetary activities available to the public.
Again, government according to the study recommendations should expedite the implementation of the 2003 Public Procurement Act including programmes for institution and capacity building as recommended in World Bank/IMF report of 2004.
The study further urged government to introduce the requirement for public officials to declare their assets, form a task force of government and civil society representatives to explore ways for improving access to data on public transfers and expenditures in sectors of priority and public interest.
According to the CDD-WB study, it will be important for government to introduce formal mechanisms for citizens and Civil Society organizations to make input into budget policies and debate.
“At the local level, government should continue to build upon piloting of composite budgeting and participatory budgeting process,” the study said.
In a reaction to the research report, the Head of the Budget Development Unit of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Ms. Eva Mends said the doors of the ministry are always open to all those looking for information on the national budget.
She said very few individuals and organizations have shown interested in contributing to the budget.
She said each stage of the budget process is transparent and citizens as well as civil society groups can participate and send their contributions or seek information on it.
Aside from that, she said the budget is sent to Parliament with detailed estimates, but neither the Civil Society organizations nor the media follow-up to pick up the issues for public discussion and debate.
She said although, the budget processes are technical, so much can be done to break down the technical aspects of it.
Until public interest in the budget processes are whipped up, Ms. Mends said it would be difficult to build the demand side of good governance and social accountability.
“While acknowledging that a lot needs to be done, we should also try and build the capacity of the public to participate in the budget processes,” she said.
A policy Analyst with the CBA Nicholas Adamtten said over the past five or six years, the Centre has been working on the national budget, analyzing it and involving citizens in budget debates debate.
He said there are other offices in the Ministry where it is difficult to access information and this discourages the public from taking part in the budget processes.
Mr. Adamten said access to information in the districts is very difficult and called on the Ministry of Finance to simplify ways of getting access to financial information in the districts.
Speaking at the Stakeholder Review Workshop on the study, the Executive Director of CDD Ghana Prof. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi said it is clear that there has been considerable progress in fostering public accountability in Ghana since the return to democratic rule under the constitution of the Fourth Republic. However he said few will deny that serious deficits remain in national efforts to institutionalize public accountability.
“The deficits are severe especially in the demand side of accountability which is a necessary complement to the supply side as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.”
According to him, the 1992 constitution supplies a good framework for public accountability but there is insufficient citizen demand on state institutions and officials accountability. “This is where social accountability comes in, it is a fancy term describing citizen actions to secure accountability on the part of the state and its agencies and officials,” Prof. Gyimah-Boadi said.
The research report was developed and produced by the Participation and Civic Engagement Group of the World Bank with guidance and contribution by Beatrix Allah-Mensah and Kofi Marrah both of World Bank Ghana office and Carmen Monico.
In country research for the study was undertaken by the CDD under the leadership of Prof. Gyimah Boadi.
Source: Public Agenda Newspaper, Ghana
GES/GHS to rid school children of worms
By Isabella Gyau Orhin
It was a day for Post mortem, following the death of a mentally deranged adult male.
It was not unusual to find worms in the abdomen of a human being even after they have passed away but what shocked the pathologist was the huge number of worms that had besieged the body of this person.
“Right from the nostrils to the rectum, there were thick balls of worms and that is how bad it can be,” says Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director General of the Ghana Health Service who was the Pathologist. He said although this particular person was mentally ill and was therefore not living hygienically, this is how worms can infest a person if there is no prevention or treatment of worms.
Worms take away essential nutrients especially iron and contribute to anaemia, and stunted growth.
Chronic infestation of worms can lead to long term retardation of mental and physical development. The most severe worm infestation can lead to death.
Worm eggs are passed out through human faeces of infected persons and grow on soil and in water when faeces are left out in the open.
Symptoms of worm infestation depend on the type of worms but the most common signs include loss of appetite, swollen or painful; abdomen, coughing, fever, vomiting diarrhea among others
Speaking at the Launch of the National Deworming Day in Accra last Monday, Prof. Akosa said many children in basic public schools are infested with worms worsening the already poor nutrition status of their bodies.
“If we get this deworming exercise done, we would have solved part of our malnutrition problems,” he said.
The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Health Service are embarking on the programme to deworm about 4.5 million children in over 28, 000 basic public schools across the country from the 12 to 16 of February 2007.
The Children will be dewormed by head teachers and school health teachers who have been trained to administer the deworming medicine Mebendazole which is 500mg and to teach their students about the dangers of worms.
The exercise is the beginning of an annual effort to implement two rounds of deworming each year.
The second round will take place later this year and will include treatment for Schistomiases or Bilharzia, a type of worm infestation caused by water transmitted worms.
Globally, intestinal worms account for an estimated 11 to 12 percent of total disease burden. Although there are no accurate figures on the prevalence rate in Ghana, the Ministry of Education says evidence suggests the situation in Ghana is similar to the global one. The Ministry says the three most common forms of soil transmitted worms affecting children are round worms, whip worms and hook worms.
Prof. Akosa said the health of children in any nation is paramount. Four out of 10 Children living in Northern Ghana are malnourished while 2.5 out of 10 children living in southern Ghana are malnourished as well.
Worm infestation he said is worsening the situation of the Ghana’s malnourished children.
Prof. Akosa partly blamed the issue of worm infestation among children to the break down of hygienic practices and the wanton defaecation of the citizenry anywhere.
.
He said the situation was better in the olden days when personal hygiene was part of school requirements.
“Those days at the Mampong St Monica’s School, teachers examined our finger nails; our handkerchiefs and everything to make sure that were clean.”
Prof. Akosa also said children no longer played on green grass in their school as their playground is bare ground.
“Their contact with the ground is direct and exposed earth,” he said adding “Hand contact with bare earth is one of the sources of worm infestation.”
Prof. Akosa further explained that when people defaecate anywhere, the worms are spread across and this leads to worm load among children who usually play in the soil.
“The worm load is no joke, the child’s attention in the classroom very small because worms make children disinterested in their own environment.
According to Prof. Akosa, the programme should go hand in hand with educating the adult population about personal cleanliness; else the exercise will be in futility.
He said after the exercise if the children go home and their parents continue to defaecate anywhere or do not wash their hands after defecating and feed the children they will get more worm infestations.
“If we do not deliver to the GES a bouncy child, the education system will not flourish,” Prof. Akosa said.
He called on mothers and those handling the School Feeding Programme to give school children adequate nutrition.
“Food is the drug of health” he said saying if everyone will have good food, immunization and live in clean environment, most of us will do other things other than prescribing pills to people.”
Dr. Akosah said giving a child one ladle of beans everyday will go along way to improve on their health and nutrition status.
The Deputy Minister for Education Science and Sports Mr. Kwame Ampofo Twumasi said worm infestation impact seriously on a child’s health and ability to attend school and perform well by robbing children of some of the food they eat.
The National Coordinator of the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Mrs. Cynthia Bosumtwi-Sam said efforts are underway to extend the programme to the private basic schools. Due to lack of logistics, she said the first round is only limited to children in public basic schools.
The 4.5 million tablets of the drug Mebendazole was bought by UNICEF at a cost of 80,000 dollars. The Chief of Child Health of UNICEF Mark Young said “what this mean is the opportunity to grow up without the interference of worms.”
.Source: Public Agenda Newspaper
It was a day for Post mortem, following the death of a mentally deranged adult male.
It was not unusual to find worms in the abdomen of a human being even after they have passed away but what shocked the pathologist was the huge number of worms that had besieged the body of this person.
“Right from the nostrils to the rectum, there were thick balls of worms and that is how bad it can be,” says Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director General of the Ghana Health Service who was the Pathologist. He said although this particular person was mentally ill and was therefore not living hygienically, this is how worms can infest a person if there is no prevention or treatment of worms.
Worms take away essential nutrients especially iron and contribute to anaemia, and stunted growth.
Chronic infestation of worms can lead to long term retardation of mental and physical development. The most severe worm infestation can lead to death.
Worm eggs are passed out through human faeces of infected persons and grow on soil and in water when faeces are left out in the open.
Symptoms of worm infestation depend on the type of worms but the most common signs include loss of appetite, swollen or painful; abdomen, coughing, fever, vomiting diarrhea among others
Speaking at the Launch of the National Deworming Day in Accra last Monday, Prof. Akosa said many children in basic public schools are infested with worms worsening the already poor nutrition status of their bodies.
“If we get this deworming exercise done, we would have solved part of our malnutrition problems,” he said.
The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Health Service are embarking on the programme to deworm about 4.5 million children in over 28, 000 basic public schools across the country from the 12 to 16 of February 2007.
The Children will be dewormed by head teachers and school health teachers who have been trained to administer the deworming medicine Mebendazole which is 500mg and to teach their students about the dangers of worms.
The exercise is the beginning of an annual effort to implement two rounds of deworming each year.
The second round will take place later this year and will include treatment for Schistomiases or Bilharzia, a type of worm infestation caused by water transmitted worms.
Globally, intestinal worms account for an estimated 11 to 12 percent of total disease burden. Although there are no accurate figures on the prevalence rate in Ghana, the Ministry of Education says evidence suggests the situation in Ghana is similar to the global one. The Ministry says the three most common forms of soil transmitted worms affecting children are round worms, whip worms and hook worms.
Prof. Akosa said the health of children in any nation is paramount. Four out of 10 Children living in Northern Ghana are malnourished while 2.5 out of 10 children living in southern Ghana are malnourished as well.
Worm infestation he said is worsening the situation of the Ghana’s malnourished children.
Prof. Akosa partly blamed the issue of worm infestation among children to the break down of hygienic practices and the wanton defaecation of the citizenry anywhere.
.
He said the situation was better in the olden days when personal hygiene was part of school requirements.
“Those days at the Mampong St Monica’s School, teachers examined our finger nails; our handkerchiefs and everything to make sure that were clean.”
Prof. Akosa also said children no longer played on green grass in their school as their playground is bare ground.
“Their contact with the ground is direct and exposed earth,” he said adding “Hand contact with bare earth is one of the sources of worm infestation.”
Prof. Akosa further explained that when people defaecate anywhere, the worms are spread across and this leads to worm load among children who usually play in the soil.
“The worm load is no joke, the child’s attention in the classroom very small because worms make children disinterested in their own environment.
According to Prof. Akosa, the programme should go hand in hand with educating the adult population about personal cleanliness; else the exercise will be in futility.
He said after the exercise if the children go home and their parents continue to defaecate anywhere or do not wash their hands after defecating and feed the children they will get more worm infestations.
“If we do not deliver to the GES a bouncy child, the education system will not flourish,” Prof. Akosa said.
He called on mothers and those handling the School Feeding Programme to give school children adequate nutrition.
“Food is the drug of health” he said saying if everyone will have good food, immunization and live in clean environment, most of us will do other things other than prescribing pills to people.”
Dr. Akosah said giving a child one ladle of beans everyday will go along way to improve on their health and nutrition status.
The Deputy Minister for Education Science and Sports Mr. Kwame Ampofo Twumasi said worm infestation impact seriously on a child’s health and ability to attend school and perform well by robbing children of some of the food they eat.
The National Coordinator of the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Mrs. Cynthia Bosumtwi-Sam said efforts are underway to extend the programme to the private basic schools. Due to lack of logistics, she said the first round is only limited to children in public basic schools.
The 4.5 million tablets of the drug Mebendazole was bought by UNICEF at a cost of 80,000 dollars. The Chief of Child Health of UNICEF Mark Young said “what this mean is the opportunity to grow up without the interference of worms.”
.Source: Public Agenda Newspaper
Protecting the rights and dignity of civilians in times of crisis
By Isabella Gyau Orhin
It has been described by the United Nations as "one of the world's worst humanitarian crises" - Sudan's Western region of Darfur.
More than a million have fled their homes in western Sudan since February 2004 while. Some 10,000 people are dying from disease and conflict every month, according to the World Health Organisation.
“I have urged the Security Council to act on the draft resolution without delay, and to be united as possible in the face of the crisis," said former UN Secretary-General Mr. Annan.
"It is urgent to act now. Civilians are still being attacked and fleeing their villages as we speak," he said at the time.
Kofi Annan said civilians were being attacked "even as we speak" despite Khartoum's pledge to stop the violence.
Today, three years on, the crisis in Dafur continues unabated. And that is not the only hotspot in the world that is demanding the attention of the UN, the African Union (AU), ECOWAS and other regional bodies around the world.
Ghana’s role in international Peacekeeping is very paramount particularly now that President John Kufuor is the African Union Chairman.
Last week, International experts on Peace Keeping gathered at the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra to deliberate on “Halting widespread or systematic attacks on civilians: Military strategies and operational Concepts.”
They included senior personnel and military officers from all over the world with knowledge and years of experience to deliberate on civilian protection issues.
The meeting was supported by the Henry L Stimson Centre based in Washington DC, USA.
In 1999, the then UN secretary General Kofi Annan made several pleas to the international community to strive for a consensus on how to approach the issue of the protection of civilians and to forge unity around the basic principles and processes involved in civilian protection.
The government of Canada together with a group of major foundations took up the challenge in response to the Secretary General’s call establishing the International Commission on Intervention and States Sovereignty (ICISS).
The Work of the Commission has culminated in the “Responsibility to Protect” principle.
The core argument of this principle is that sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe such as mass murder, widespread torture, rape and starvation.
However, when a state is unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be borne by the broader community of states.
“There is the need to protect civilians through military intervention to prevent genocide, ethnic cleansing or mass killings,” says Victoria Holt, a Senior Associate of the Stimson Centre.
“Civilian protection should be the primary mission.” According to her when a state is unable to protect its citizens, then the sovereign rights will fall back.
She said in the case of genocide in any part of the world, how the military will operate without hurting the civilians is very important.
She also said there is the need to examine the crisis in Rwanda, Sierra-Leone, Bosnia, and Democratic Republic of Congo to find out what strategies were used and how they can be improved to enhance future peacekeeping operations and also to handle the Dafur crisis.
The meeting was a follow up to an earlier one held in September 2006, on Garnering the political will to meet the Responsibility to protect In Africa.
According to the KAIPTC, this meeting generated lots of interesting debates on civilian protection and getting the international community involved in ensuring that the concept of the Responsibility to Protect becomes successful on the African continent.
The emphasis was to draw the attention of African leaders on the Responsibility to Protect and also get them more involved in operationalising the concept.
“The Protection of human rights during civil war is crucial,” says Major General John Attipoe, Commandant of the KAIPTC.
Major-General Attipoe described the meeting as timely taking into consideration the crisis in Dafur and a few other places in the continent of Africa.
“As a follow up, we are gathered here today, to take the issue a step further by considering primary military challenges and concepts to halt widespread attacks on civilians.
The Minister for Defence, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, said the rights of innocent civilians have been consistently violated with impunity while the international community and host governments remain unconcerned as it happened in the case of Rwanda, DRC, Sebrenica and East Timor.
These abuses committed by both state and non-state actors and the inaction on the part of the international community ought to be addressed either through preventive or reactionary measures under the Responsibility to Protect concept.
“While we all agree that the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect is a primary duty of government, the states responsibility to protect its own citizens or citizens of other countries must be equally complemented by efforts of non-state actors.”
This is to ensure “rapid decision making processes and timely intervention during threatening humanitarian disasters.”
Special consideration must therefore be given to the role of intergovernmental and Non-governmental organizations, associations or networks –individually or collectively in operationalising the concept of Responsibility to Protect through policy development, research programmes, training and other relevant measures.
“We must also begin to think about obligations to the civilians we protect after we have intervened,” Dr. Addo-Kufuor said.
This is because if the military departs prematurely, the possibility of abuses recurring becomes greater. Therefore “appropriate or sound withdrawal strategies ought to be put in place to guarantee the success of the intervention.”
“The Dafur crisis in Sudan constitutes a major challenge or test case for the protection of civilians,” he said adding, “In Sudan, there has been clear evidence of systematic attacks on specific targets in the population.”
“The question is how long will this continue, despite the presence of AU and the involvement of the UN in finding a solution to the conflict?” Dr. Addo-Kufuor asked.
“There is the urgent need for the AU and the UN to act with dispatch to save the lives and property in Dafur,” he said.
Source : Public Agenda Newspaper Ghana
It has been described by the United Nations as "one of the world's worst humanitarian crises" - Sudan's Western region of Darfur.
More than a million have fled their homes in western Sudan since February 2004 while. Some 10,000 people are dying from disease and conflict every month, according to the World Health Organisation.
“I have urged the Security Council to act on the draft resolution without delay, and to be united as possible in the face of the crisis," said former UN Secretary-General Mr. Annan.
"It is urgent to act now. Civilians are still being attacked and fleeing their villages as we speak," he said at the time.
Kofi Annan said civilians were being attacked "even as we speak" despite Khartoum's pledge to stop the violence.
Today, three years on, the crisis in Dafur continues unabated. And that is not the only hotspot in the world that is demanding the attention of the UN, the African Union (AU), ECOWAS and other regional bodies around the world.
Ghana’s role in international Peacekeeping is very paramount particularly now that President John Kufuor is the African Union Chairman.
Last week, International experts on Peace Keeping gathered at the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra to deliberate on “Halting widespread or systematic attacks on civilians: Military strategies and operational Concepts.”
They included senior personnel and military officers from all over the world with knowledge and years of experience to deliberate on civilian protection issues.
The meeting was supported by the Henry L Stimson Centre based in Washington DC, USA.
In 1999, the then UN secretary General Kofi Annan made several pleas to the international community to strive for a consensus on how to approach the issue of the protection of civilians and to forge unity around the basic principles and processes involved in civilian protection.
The government of Canada together with a group of major foundations took up the challenge in response to the Secretary General’s call establishing the International Commission on Intervention and States Sovereignty (ICISS).
The Work of the Commission has culminated in the “Responsibility to Protect” principle.
The core argument of this principle is that sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe such as mass murder, widespread torture, rape and starvation.
However, when a state is unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be borne by the broader community of states.
“There is the need to protect civilians through military intervention to prevent genocide, ethnic cleansing or mass killings,” says Victoria Holt, a Senior Associate of the Stimson Centre.
“Civilian protection should be the primary mission.” According to her when a state is unable to protect its citizens, then the sovereign rights will fall back.
She said in the case of genocide in any part of the world, how the military will operate without hurting the civilians is very important.
She also said there is the need to examine the crisis in Rwanda, Sierra-Leone, Bosnia, and Democratic Republic of Congo to find out what strategies were used and how they can be improved to enhance future peacekeeping operations and also to handle the Dafur crisis.
The meeting was a follow up to an earlier one held in September 2006, on Garnering the political will to meet the Responsibility to protect In Africa.
According to the KAIPTC, this meeting generated lots of interesting debates on civilian protection and getting the international community involved in ensuring that the concept of the Responsibility to Protect becomes successful on the African continent.
The emphasis was to draw the attention of African leaders on the Responsibility to Protect and also get them more involved in operationalising the concept.
“The Protection of human rights during civil war is crucial,” says Major General John Attipoe, Commandant of the KAIPTC.
Major-General Attipoe described the meeting as timely taking into consideration the crisis in Dafur and a few other places in the continent of Africa.
“As a follow up, we are gathered here today, to take the issue a step further by considering primary military challenges and concepts to halt widespread attacks on civilians.
The Minister for Defence, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, said the rights of innocent civilians have been consistently violated with impunity while the international community and host governments remain unconcerned as it happened in the case of Rwanda, DRC, Sebrenica and East Timor.
These abuses committed by both state and non-state actors and the inaction on the part of the international community ought to be addressed either through preventive or reactionary measures under the Responsibility to Protect concept.
“While we all agree that the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect is a primary duty of government, the states responsibility to protect its own citizens or citizens of other countries must be equally complemented by efforts of non-state actors.”
This is to ensure “rapid decision making processes and timely intervention during threatening humanitarian disasters.”
Special consideration must therefore be given to the role of intergovernmental and Non-governmental organizations, associations or networks –individually or collectively in operationalising the concept of Responsibility to Protect through policy development, research programmes, training and other relevant measures.
“We must also begin to think about obligations to the civilians we protect after we have intervened,” Dr. Addo-Kufuor said.
This is because if the military departs prematurely, the possibility of abuses recurring becomes greater. Therefore “appropriate or sound withdrawal strategies ought to be put in place to guarantee the success of the intervention.”
“The Dafur crisis in Sudan constitutes a major challenge or test case for the protection of civilians,” he said adding, “In Sudan, there has been clear evidence of systematic attacks on specific targets in the population.”
“The question is how long will this continue, despite the presence of AU and the involvement of the UN in finding a solution to the conflict?” Dr. Addo-Kufuor asked.
“There is the urgent need for the AU and the UN to act with dispatch to save the lives and property in Dafur,” he said.
Source : Public Agenda Newspaper Ghana
World Social Forum: WB/Gov'ts asked to ensure human rights in extractive sector
World Bank/gov’t asked to ensure human rights in extractive sector
By Isabella Gyau Orhin
Civil Society groups, CIDSE and Partner organizations across the globe that participated in the just ended World Social Forum in Nairobi Kenya have asked the World Bank to implement the original recommendations of the Extractive Industries Review report which includes the need to secure the free, prior and informed consent of local people.
They have also asked Trans-national Corporations to respect their contracts with host governments, which must be in line with national laws and international human rights and environmental standards while asking governments to allow for renegotiation of contracts which are not in the best interests of affected communities.
They are also to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous people and local communities before operations commence and to respect the right of such communities to say “No” to projects that are not in their best interests. Such free, prior and informed consent must be a condition of any contract signed with the host government.
In a paper titled “PROSPECTING FOR SOLUTIONS” issued on January 23 which carried recommendations on the impact of oil, mining and logging on development, to companies, governments International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the United Nations, the group expressed their disgust for the current spate of pollution and underdevelopment going on in mining communities among others.
“We are deeply concerned that rather than benefit from their natural resources, local people in areas of natural resource exploitation, such as oil, gas, mining and logging, experience increased poverty,” adding “We believe that a country’s natural resources belong to its citizens and should be used in the best interests of the people.”
According to the statement, these natural resources are God given and should serve all mankind and future generations.
They also asked the Trans National Corporations to sign on to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and ensure publication of all payments and contracts made to governments.
They also asked them to ensure that their operations do not cause or exacerbate conflict. However, where it does, they should suspend operations until the conflict has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.
“The Bank World Bank and other Regional Development Banks should consider the particular circumstances of each country and the right of its population to determine their own development,” the groups said.
The Bank according to the group should observe a moratorium on the funding of extractive projects to evaluate the costs and benefits of extractive industries, taking into consideration the economic, social and environmental impacts, including loss of bio-diversity and climate change.
They also asked the Bank and other international financial institutions to end their policies of wholesale liberalisation and privatisation of the extractives sector.
The group also asked the IFIs to insist on mandatory independent monitoring of projects which recognize the full participation of civil society.
The groups were also interested in the activities of governments in the developing world.
They therefore called on governments to develop and ensure compliance with clear policies and legal frameworks to control extractive industries effectively. Such policies and legislation should be in line with international human rights and environmental standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Discrimination against Women, indigenous peoples’ human rights safeguards and the ILO Core Labour Standards.
“Governments should hold companies accountable for their extractive activities, wherever they operate,” the groups said adding, “require independent environmental, social and human rights impact assessments and publish the results at an early stage and in a form that is accessible and comprehensive to the population affected.”
Such impact assessments they said should form the basis of an informed decision by all stakeholders as to whether extractive projects are in the best interests of the people.”
The groups particularly called on governments of the South to include in their legal frameworks as a guarantee for the genuine participation of local communities at all stages of extractive projects;
Governments they said should only grant licences for extractive industries’ operations with the free, prior and informed consent of the local community and improve transparency with regard to revenue management by signing up to the EITI and to guarantee a fair and equitable distribution of such revenues, in order to serve poverty reduction;
Governments should “immediately end all harassment and intimidation of individuals advocating against corruption, human rights violations and environmental destruction associated with natural resource exploitation.”
Governments in the Northern Hemisphere were asked by the groups to implement mechanisms necessary to change patterns of consumptions of their populations and promote the sustainable use of energy and other natural resources;
They should “deny export credits and investment guarantees to those companies that do not meet the highest internationally accepted standards including the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises, the ILO Core Labour Standards and Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) reporting criteria,” the groups said.
The United Nations was not left out of the groups concerns. According to the group, the UN should guarantees the rights of people in extractive areas. They therefore called on the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Business and Human Rights to develop an effective mandatory regulatory human rights framework for Transnational Corporations and other business enterprises that allows for sanctions in severe cases of non-compliance.
“We call on the General Assembly and on all UN member states to support the approval of the Draft Declaration of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, including their right to free, prior and informed consent, and to extend this right to all affected local communities.”
In another development, the World Bank has announced its decision to protect human rights more and more than previously. Its new Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Bank Ana Palacio who joined the Bank Last September describe the move as a paradigm shift.
Speaking via Video Conference from Washington DC, in Accra last week Palacio said it is now widely recognized that human rights have relevance for several other international goals including development.
“It is now clear that the Bank can and sometimes should take human rights into considerations as part of its decision-making process,” Palacio said.
However, Palacio also says that Human rights have an unavoidable political content and embody value commitments which are not uniformly interpreted. Yet she said the World Bank has limitations on strictly political activities.
In Ghana, President John Agyekum Kufuor who is now the newly elected African Union Chairman has asked Ghanaians studying in the areas of mining engineering and geology to take their studies seriously so they can take over control of mining activities in the country.
Speaking at the annual People’s assembly in Sunyani recently, the President said as a result of lack of expertise and financial resources, Ghana has no choice but to allow foreign mining firms to do prospecting and invest in capital and equipment for mining as well.
President Kufuor said these when he responded to a question posed by a participant at this year’s annual People’s Assembly held in Sunyani last Tuesday.
The Participant wanted to know why Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, (NGGL) a multinational mining company operating in the Brong-Ahafo and Eastern Regions of the country gets 90 percent of proceeds from mining Ghana’s gold while the nation only gets 10 percent.
The President explained that, it is as a result of mining laws and earlier agreements which are renewable every 15 years.
He also said efforts are being put in place to ensure that Ghana gets a fair share of proceeds from its minerals just as in its agreements with Anglogold Ashanti.
“Students of geology and mining engineering should endeavour to learn hard,” the president said, adding, “With time when Ghana has developed the skill of the white men in terms of mining, the nation will be able to take over its mining activities.”
By Isabella Gyau Orhin
Civil Society groups, CIDSE and Partner organizations across the globe that participated in the just ended World Social Forum in Nairobi Kenya have asked the World Bank to implement the original recommendations of the Extractive Industries Review report which includes the need to secure the free, prior and informed consent of local people.
They have also asked Trans-national Corporations to respect their contracts with host governments, which must be in line with national laws and international human rights and environmental standards while asking governments to allow for renegotiation of contracts which are not in the best interests of affected communities.
They are also to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous people and local communities before operations commence and to respect the right of such communities to say “No” to projects that are not in their best interests. Such free, prior and informed consent must be a condition of any contract signed with the host government.
In a paper titled “PROSPECTING FOR SOLUTIONS” issued on January 23 which carried recommendations on the impact of oil, mining and logging on development, to companies, governments International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the United Nations, the group expressed their disgust for the current spate of pollution and underdevelopment going on in mining communities among others.
“We are deeply concerned that rather than benefit from their natural resources, local people in areas of natural resource exploitation, such as oil, gas, mining and logging, experience increased poverty,” adding “We believe that a country’s natural resources belong to its citizens and should be used in the best interests of the people.”
According to the statement, these natural resources are God given and should serve all mankind and future generations.
They also asked the Trans National Corporations to sign on to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and ensure publication of all payments and contracts made to governments.
They also asked them to ensure that their operations do not cause or exacerbate conflict. However, where it does, they should suspend operations until the conflict has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.
“The Bank World Bank and other Regional Development Banks should consider the particular circumstances of each country and the right of its population to determine their own development,” the groups said.
The Bank according to the group should observe a moratorium on the funding of extractive projects to evaluate the costs and benefits of extractive industries, taking into consideration the economic, social and environmental impacts, including loss of bio-diversity and climate change.
They also asked the Bank and other international financial institutions to end their policies of wholesale liberalisation and privatisation of the extractives sector.
The group also asked the IFIs to insist on mandatory independent monitoring of projects which recognize the full participation of civil society.
The groups were also interested in the activities of governments in the developing world.
They therefore called on governments to develop and ensure compliance with clear policies and legal frameworks to control extractive industries effectively. Such policies and legislation should be in line with international human rights and environmental standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Discrimination against Women, indigenous peoples’ human rights safeguards and the ILO Core Labour Standards.
“Governments should hold companies accountable for their extractive activities, wherever they operate,” the groups said adding, “require independent environmental, social and human rights impact assessments and publish the results at an early stage and in a form that is accessible and comprehensive to the population affected.”
Such impact assessments they said should form the basis of an informed decision by all stakeholders as to whether extractive projects are in the best interests of the people.”
The groups particularly called on governments of the South to include in their legal frameworks as a guarantee for the genuine participation of local communities at all stages of extractive projects;
Governments they said should only grant licences for extractive industries’ operations with the free, prior and informed consent of the local community and improve transparency with regard to revenue management by signing up to the EITI and to guarantee a fair and equitable distribution of such revenues, in order to serve poverty reduction;
Governments should “immediately end all harassment and intimidation of individuals advocating against corruption, human rights violations and environmental destruction associated with natural resource exploitation.”
Governments in the Northern Hemisphere were asked by the groups to implement mechanisms necessary to change patterns of consumptions of their populations and promote the sustainable use of energy and other natural resources;
They should “deny export credits and investment guarantees to those companies that do not meet the highest internationally accepted standards including the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises, the ILO Core Labour Standards and Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) reporting criteria,” the groups said.
The United Nations was not left out of the groups concerns. According to the group, the UN should guarantees the rights of people in extractive areas. They therefore called on the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Business and Human Rights to develop an effective mandatory regulatory human rights framework for Transnational Corporations and other business enterprises that allows for sanctions in severe cases of non-compliance.
“We call on the General Assembly and on all UN member states to support the approval of the Draft Declaration of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, including their right to free, prior and informed consent, and to extend this right to all affected local communities.”
In another development, the World Bank has announced its decision to protect human rights more and more than previously. Its new Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Bank Ana Palacio who joined the Bank Last September describe the move as a paradigm shift.
Speaking via Video Conference from Washington DC, in Accra last week Palacio said it is now widely recognized that human rights have relevance for several other international goals including development.
“It is now clear that the Bank can and sometimes should take human rights into considerations as part of its decision-making process,” Palacio said.
However, Palacio also says that Human rights have an unavoidable political content and embody value commitments which are not uniformly interpreted. Yet she said the World Bank has limitations on strictly political activities.
In Ghana, President John Agyekum Kufuor who is now the newly elected African Union Chairman has asked Ghanaians studying in the areas of mining engineering and geology to take their studies seriously so they can take over control of mining activities in the country.
Speaking at the annual People’s assembly in Sunyani recently, the President said as a result of lack of expertise and financial resources, Ghana has no choice but to allow foreign mining firms to do prospecting and invest in capital and equipment for mining as well.
President Kufuor said these when he responded to a question posed by a participant at this year’s annual People’s Assembly held in Sunyani last Tuesday.
The Participant wanted to know why Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, (NGGL) a multinational mining company operating in the Brong-Ahafo and Eastern Regions of the country gets 90 percent of proceeds from mining Ghana’s gold while the nation only gets 10 percent.
The President explained that, it is as a result of mining laws and earlier agreements which are renewable every 15 years.
He also said efforts are being put in place to ensure that Ghana gets a fair share of proceeds from its minerals just as in its agreements with Anglogold Ashanti.
“Students of geology and mining engineering should endeavour to learn hard,” the president said, adding, “With time when Ghana has developed the skill of the white men in terms of mining, the nation will be able to take over its mining activities.”
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