THE poverty reduction project being executed by the government under auspices of the United Nations has been extended to over more communities in the Amansie West District.

This follows the successes achieved so far under the United Nations Millennium Villages Project (MVP) at Bonsaaso in the Amansie West District. The MVP, an integrated poverty reduction initiative with the aim of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is expected to end in 2011.

Prof. Jeffery Sachs, Co-founder of the UN Millennium Project and Director of the Earth Institute, explained that the project had been extended to 2015 to ensure that more people benefited from it. Prof. Sachs, who was in the Bonsaaso project area with a former UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and other officials from the world body last Sunday to get first-hand information on the project, stated that it was the responsibility of the donor agencies to react positively to the demands of the communities under the project.

The Bonsaaso project covers a cluster of 30 rural communities with an estimated population of 30,000. It is one of the 79 MVPs located in 10 countries in sub-Saharan African. The other countries are Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. Prof. Sachs told a meeting with the staff of the project that attaining the MDGs was very dear to the heart of the UN and that was why the MVP was receiving all the necessary support to succeed.

He commended the management and the entire team of the Bonsaaso project for doing extremely well in their work. He said it was always important to rely on a good team to execute projects and, therefore, urged the Ghana government to create teams that solved problems, while tackling its development agenda. Briefing the UN team, the cluster manager/team leader of the Bonsaaso MVP, Mr. Samuel Afram, enumerated the successes achieved so far and said the people and the various authorities had been supportive in that respect.

The success story was manifested in areas such as education, health, the environment and agriculture. Community empowerment, he noted, was the bedrock of the project and after four years we’ve seen enhanced development”. Other Ghanaian officials who accompanied the UN team were the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr. Samuel Sarpong, and the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr. Kusi Appiah.

Source: Daily Graphic