UNDP builds blacksmiths cooperatives in Ghana

Click here to read this in full: http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/features/16749-artisans-organised-into-co-operatives

Artisans Organised Into Co-Operatives

Wednesday, 10 October 2012 10:02

Artisans in the three northern regions are being organised into co-operatives as part of efforts to curb the proliferation of small arms. Their operations, as individuals, made regulation and monitoring difficult. Under the initiative dubbed: “the United Nations Human Security Programme” (UN-HSP), 250 blacksmiths in Yendi and Tamale in the Northern Region, Bawku in the Upper East, and Wa, the Upper West Regional capital, have joined associations since 2009 as part of efforts to consolidate peace. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN body behind the initiative, the project sought to “expand their networks to reach out toother blacksmiths elsewhere within the country to learn best practices and be ready to contribute to the development agenda of the area. When the Daily Graphic visited the Boriguyili blacksmiths association site in Yendi, the over 60 blacksmiths who make up the association had gathered for one of their monthly meetings. The Secretary of the group, Mr. Bawah Basheiru, said they were now committed to ensuring that none of its members in the area produced arms. He said the job was a family heritage bequeathed to them by their fathers and so they were protecting it. He said members of the group had vowed to hand over to the police any member found to be engaging in the production of weapons. He said their vision was to operate with modern technology that would make their products more competitive on the market and called for support from the government and other donor agencies. The blacksmiths are largely engaged in the manufacture of farm tools like hoes, machetes, pickaxes etc, but when the main farming season, which spans three months, is over, their jobs take a nosedive. The blacksmiths in Tamale and Yendi have successfully collaborated to adopt one name and one constitution and registered with the Registrar General’s Department under the Company’s Act 179 as the Northern Region Association of Blacksmiths. New businesses are springing up in the area and economic activity is on the rise. The Deputy Secretary to the group, Mr. Abukar Abdulai, said two new private senior high schools had been put up in the area to support quality education. The programme is currently in discussions with some of the micro finance institutions in three regions of the north to link them up for micro finance support. Source: Daily Graphic Click here to read this in full: http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/features/16749-artisans-organised-into-co-operatives

Ghana: UNDP partners with private corporate MTN to build local ICT centre to bridge digital divide for under-served communities

Read this in full @ All Africa: http://allafrica.com/stories/201209241581.html

Essiama — MTN Ghana has completed the construction of a $100,000 Information Communication Technology (ICT) centre for the use of communities in and around Essiama in the Elembelle District of the Western Region.

The centre is to bridge the digital divide between the served and under-served communities in ICT use. The facility was put together in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

MTN corporate services executive Cynthia Lumor observed that the use of the Internet is crucial to national development and the centre would help rural and semi-rural students in their ICT studies. Mrs Lumor said the centre would serve about 9,500 people in five communities, adding it would operate as a study centre for over 3,000 students from about 10 schools within its catchment area. She revealed that MTN has invested over GHC9,668.815.27 million since the establishment of the MTN Foundation on health, education and economic empowerment across Ghana.

She noted that the beneficiaries of the foundation include school children, teachers and hospital patients. "The economically disadvantaged communities have benefited from the provision of boreholes, traffic lights, school buildings, libraries, ICT centres, medical equipment, hospital ward, polyclinics, operating theatres, job training and the capitalisation that the MTN Ghana Foundation has founded"

The UNDP partnership advisor, Mr Fred Ampiah, said the centre would help the people in the communities, especially students, compete with people in other parts of the country since education is one of the avenues for developing a nation. The chief of Essiama, Nana Kofi Amgboe IV, appealed to MTN to assist Essiama Secondary/Technical School with 'a modern science laboratory.

Read this in full @ All Africa: http://allafrica.com/stories/201209241581.html

Balbir Singh: The Norway's NORAD Auditor who "investigated UNDP's finances" is now entrusted with another important evaluation...

NORAD EVALUATION

Evaluation of Oil for Development Programme

The evaluation will focus on the development of regulatory frameworks at national level and building institutional capacity. Casestudies in Ghana, Mozambique, Sudan, Uganda and East-Timor. In addition primary data will be collected by field work in two or three other countries to be decided during the inception phase. Scanteam won the bid for tender and will excute the assignment.
Timeplan: Report June 2012
Responsible: Balbir Singh (Click here for a story on UNDP Finances Audit)

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Fox News Report: U.N. Aid Agencies Heaped Up Huge Amounts of Cash

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/07/20/report-un-aid-agencies-stockpile-huge-amounts-cash/#ixzz208C0OPsq

UNDP will have to distribute DFID/UK foreign aid based on "who is Gay and who is not"! David Cameron says: "no aid to anti-gay nations"

Iran and Syria's in question?

Cameron threat to dock some UK aid to anti-gay nations

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David Cameron has threatened to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality.

The UK prime minister said he raised the issue with some of the states involved at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.

Human rights reform in the Commonwealth was one issue that leaders failed to reach agreement on at the summit.

Mr Cameron says those receiving UK aid should "adhere to proper human rights".

Ending the bans on homosexuality was one of the recommendations of an internal report into the future relevance of the Commonwealth.

Mr Cameron's threat applies only to one type of bilateral aid known as general budget support, and would not reduce the overall amount of aid to any one country.

Malawi has already had some of its budget support suspended over concerns about its attitude to gay rights. Concerns have also been raised with the governments of Uganda and Ghana.

British empire

Mr Cameron told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that "British aid should have more strings attached".

But he conceded that countries could not change immediately, and cautioned that there would be a "journey".

"This is an issue where we are pushing for movement, we are prepared to put some money behind what we believe. But I'm afraid that you can't expect countries to change overnight.

"Britain is one of the premier aid givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights.

"We are saying that is one of the things that determines our aid policy, and there have been particularly bad examples where we have taken action."

Mr Cameron said he had spoken with "a number of African countries" and that more pressure had been applied by Foreign Secretary William Hague, who deputised for him during parts of the summit.

Some 41 nations within the 54-member Commonwealth have laws banning homosexuality. Many of these laws are a legacy of British Empire laws.

The discussion in the Ugandan parliament of an anti-homosexuality bill in 2009 sparked particular controversy, and earlier this year Ugandan gay rights campaigner David Kato was beaten to death in a suspected hate crime.

Nigeria's Senate is currently discussing a bill banning same-sex marriage, that includes penalties for anyone witnessing or aiding a same-sex marriage.

A spokesman for the Department for International Development said that budget support, which accounts for about 5% of the UK's annual aid budget of £7.46bn, is conditional direct assistance to governments. To qualify, recipients must adhere to rules on poverty reduction, respect of human rights, good governance and domestic accountability.

Malawi recently had £19m of budget support suspended following various infractions including poor progress on human rights and media freedoms and concern over the government's approach to gay rights, the DfID spokesman said.

Reacting to the news, Uganda Radio Network journalist, Charles Odongpho, said he was puzzled by the move.

"I welcome any move to pressure our government to be respectful of democratic values and human rights but speaking as a Ugandan I think we have much more important issues to deal with than the rights of homosexuals.

"This is your money and you know where you want to put it but we face very serious issues of corruption, poverty, education and hunger. These are the most critical issues for us, not homosexual rights."

Appointing a human rights commissioner to address this and other human rights issues was one of the 100-plus recommendations of the internal report, by the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, which includes former UK foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

However, objections from a number of countries blocked adoption of the recommendation, according to Australia's prime minister Julia Gillard, speaking at the end of the three-day summit in Western Australia.

Besides the homosexuality rights issue, Sri Lanka's human rights conduct also came under scrutiny at the summit. The country will host the next head of government's meeting in two years' time.

Sri Lanka's army has been accused of war crimes during the civil war with the Tamil Tigers.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will boycott the 2013 summit unless there are major reforms in the country.

Succession question

In earlier comments, Mr Cameron said there had to be a "proper, independent exercise to look into the whole issue of what happened, and whether there were war crimes, and who is responsible" in Sri Lanka.

BBC correspondent Nicholas Witchell said the summit had been seen as a "watershed" for the organisation as it "struggles to demonstrate its relevance, particularly on human rights".

Though the summit agreed to draw up a written charter and strengthen its ministerial action group, our correspondent said the outcome will be viewed by many "as a disappointing one and an opportunity missed".

Two other developments came from the summit - a reform of royal succession and action on polio.

It was agreed that sons and daughters of any future UK monarch would have equal right to the throne. They will also be allowed to marry Roman Catholics without giving up a claim to the throne.

The move was agreed by the 15 Commonwealth realms where the monarch is head of state.

And Mr Cameron joined the leaders of Canada, Australia and Nigeria, in committing tens of millions of pounds towards eradicating polio in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

The campaign will be supported financially by Microsoft magnate Bill Gates.

CLICK HERE FOR THIS STORY ON BBCNEWS.COM