First quarter review meetings with DPOs & SHGs report

1.0 Background / introduction

The Foundation for Community Empowerment Programme (FOCEP) is in partnership with Ghana Somubi Dwumadie (GSD) with funding from UKAID is implementing an intervention dubbed: Promoting Disability Inclusive Development (PDID) in the Mamprungu Moaduri District of the North East Region of Ghana.

Ghana Somubi Dwumadie (Ghana Participation Programme) is a four-year disability programme in Ghana, with a specific focus on mental health. This programme is funded by UK aid from the UK government.

As part of the first quarter, FOCEP conducted monthly/quarterly review meetings with various SHG’s/DPO’s in the Mamprugu Moagduri District of the North East Region of Ghana. The objective of this activity is to Empower PWD’s and PWMHD’s to enhance their advocacy rights engagement and fulfilment

2.0 Attendance/participation

A total number of 50 representative from five (5) DPO’s and two (2) SHG’s participated in the first quarter review meeting. The gender distribution of the participants is as follows:

3.0 Highlights of first quarter activities implemented

Mr. Akanpisi Solomon, Executive Director of FOCEP took participants through the project implemented intervention; scope, activities and time lines for the first quarter.

He reiterated that the project is one-year, spanning May 2021 to April 2022, with the goal: Promoting Equal Rights and Opportunities for All the Mamprugu  Moagduri District

3.1 Project inception workshop

The project inception workshop was successfully organized by bringing together 50 (38 males, 12 females) stakeholders consisting of District Chief Executive (DCE), traditional leaders, religious leaders, executive members of Disabled People’s Organizations (DPO’s) and Mental Health Self-Help Groups, heads of decentralized departments of the District Assembly, NGOs, and other Community Based Organizations. The inception training workshop achieved 100% success rate because the planned target was 50 stakeholders as against 50 stakeholders who participated. The Executive Director used the platform to explain to the stakeholders the details and the rationale behind the project interventions which seek to promote equal rights and opportunities for persons with disabilities and persons with mental health conditions in the district to enhance inclusive development must be embraced target beneficiaries.

3.2 Training on disability rights and inclusion

The project implementation team also organized a training workshop for 50 stakeholders (13 females and 37 males) consisting of religious and traditional leaders as well as executive members of DPO’s and SHG’s. This activity was successfully carried out with a success rate of 100% because 50 stakeholders were earmarked according to the plan which has been achieved. The chiefs, queen mothers, religious leaders and executives’ members of the various DPO’s and SHG’s were excited with the training because their capacities have been built and they are well-equipped with appropriate knowledge to promote rights of persons with disabilities and persons with mental health disabilities to enhance inclusive development. The participants were grateful to FOCEP for making available the Disability and mental health Acts to them for the first time after many years of its existence to serve as a reference document to guide them in their advocacy work in their respective communities.

3.3 Weekly radio sensitization programme

Another major achievement chalked by the project is the successful implementation of the community radio discussion programme to create awareness on disability and mental health disability issues to enhance inclusion at all levels of society. The project management team developed an MOU with radio YK FM located in Yagba and the radio discussions has since commenced. The project implementation team also organized a training session for radio panelist to guide them as a measure to enhance their communication and advocacy skills. A total of 50 panelists made up of persons with disabilities and persons with mental health disabilities were trained. A total of 13 radio discussion sessions held. A total of 209 person phone in to ask questions during the radio discussions.

3.4 Capacity development training on inclusive education

The project implementation team within the period organized capacity development training on inclusive education for 53 executives of DPO’s and SHG’s as well as some selected classroom teachers. The project team over-achieved its targets by training 53 participants as against 50 participants planned for the period representing 106% success rate. The participants were taking through basic principles of the inclusive education policy, physical accessibility, basic teaching and learning materials for children with special needs and the right of a child with disability to education.

3.5 Interface meetings between DPOs, SHGs and District Authorities

In addition, the project implementation team organized an interface meeting between DPOs, SHGs and District Authorities on matters affecting PWDs in the Mamprugu-Moaduri District as measure to ensure equal rights and opportunities for the persons with disabilities and persons with mental health conditions. This platform gave the PWD’s and PWMHD’s the opportunities to ask duty bearers certain pertinent questions in respect to their needs such as: employment opportunities within Youth Employment Agency, lack of transparency in the disbursement of the Disability fund, lack of special education teachers to handle children with disabilities, lack of mental health officers and shortage of psychotropic and anti-epileptic drugs among others. Under this activity the project implementation team over-performed by organizing 52 stakeholders for the interface meeting as against 50 stakeholders planned for the period

4.0 Updates of DPOs and SHGs activities in the district        

Pastor Joseph Agana outlined the activities of PWDs and PWMHD in the Mamprugu Moagduri district as follows:

4.1   Weekly meetings of the various DPOs in their communities

The Yagba DPO usually meets on every Saturday of the week at the Goodnews Bible Church in Yagba to discuss issues affecting them and how to overcome them, some of the issues discuss are discrimination, abuses, skill training programme and establishment of business and resource Centre for their meetings and training programmes. The Kubori DPO usually meets on Fridays and the Loagri DPO meets on Saturdays too while the other communities DPOs are not well organized. However, with regards to the Mental Health SHG’s, they do not have a separate meetings, they usually join together with their community DPO’s. It pertinent to mention that FOCEP is currently developing an elaborate plan to re-organize the SHG’s in the various communities and build their capacities for effective advocacy engagements.

4.2 Outreach DPOs& SHGs

FOCEP implementation team visited 8 communities to ascertain the functionality of DPO’s and SHG’s and per the assessment only 4 DPO’ were functioning, the rest the four communities had no functioning DPO’s. With regard to SHG’s none was functioning. A total of 152 persons with disabilities and persons with mental health conditions were reached out during the field visitation.

Outreached to Nonfunctional DPOs and SHGs

Outreached to Functional DPO and SHG in the District

4.3 Support from the District Assembly

The DPOs visited the District Assembly to solicit for financial support from the District Disability Fund allocated to Persons with disability and persons with mental disability and we were asked to come with our leaders and have a meeting with the social welfare staff as to what should the common fund be used for, we all reached on a consensus to buy refrigerators tailoring machines etc. to support our members to establish a business, which was done in the early 2021

5.0 Challenges of PWDS and PWMHD

1. Lack of employment opportunities within Youth Employment Agency for persons with disabilities and persons with mental health condition,
2. Lack of transparency in the disbursement of the Disability fund,
3. Lack of special education teachers to handle children with disabilities,
4. Lack of mental health officers at the Yagaba, Kubori,  Loagri  Djadema, and Yikpabongo health centres
5. shortage of psychotropic and anti-epileptic drugs in the district for people with mental health conditions

6.0 Way forward

• Set up a functional team to ensure equitable disbursement of the district common fund allocated for persons with disabilities
• FOCEP to facilitate for the DPOs and SHGs to have access to psychotropic and anti-epileptic drugs for through the District Health Directorate
• To have a formidable and functional DPOs and SHGs to mobilized resources to construct a resource Centre’s for entrepreneurial skill training of their members
• To form a community anti discriminatory committee to combat discrimination, stigma and abuse of persons with disabilities and persons with mental health conditions in our communities
• To be able to access assistive devices for some of the visually impair people and the physical challenge people of the various DPOs
• FOCEP would facilitate for formation and revival of the various DPOs and SHGs in the various communities within the District
• FOCEP to facilitate for persons with disability and persons with mental health conditions to have access to referral pathways. The leaders of the PWDs and PWMHD appeal to FOCEP to facilitate for health screen programme for them
• FOCEP would facilitate a safeguarding training for the PWDs and PWMHD

Conclusion

Project activity implementation is on course.FOCEP is grateful to Ghana Sumubi Gwumadie and their donor partners UKAID for the financial and technical support. We are equally thankful to our local partners and stakeholders who contributed their time and knowledge to make this implementation successful.

Finally, we are grateful to the Almighty God for His continuous guidance and protection.

Compiled by:

Enoch Dokurugu

(Project Officer)