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Ghana Red Cross Society handicapped …needs more funding, logistics
The Ghana Red Cross Society has initiated a number of activities and supported the health sector in its efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
In spite of the crucial role it plays, the organisation continues to rely on the benevolence of individuals and organisations to execute many of its programmes in the country.
Officials indicate that funding and logistic constraints, to a large extent, have been preventing the society from reaching out to the vulnerable during crucial moments.
The Greater Accra regional office, for instance, has only one pickup vehicle for its routine operations.
Madam Catherine Adasu, the Regional Manageress, who confirmed this in an interview with The Spectator said that there was the need to close the “funding and logistic gap” so that the society could do more for the nation.
She said that officers at the regional office sometimes had to offer their personal vehicles to complement the only available pickup in order to carry out field work satisfactorily.
“We are handicapped in so many ways. The little resources we have are used to encourage volunteers and settle other administrative costs. As much as we want to do more, we are not able to do so for lack of funds until we get help.
“Our headquarters is equally handicapped when it comes to funding to implement some strategic programmes,” she noted.
Madam Adasu said that district officers of the society also needed motorbikes to fast-track their movement and quick response to emergencies within their jurisdictions and pointed out that volunteers of the society also required insurance packages.
According to her, Red Cross volunteers were not considered frontline workers although they had, in the last eight months, supported risk communication and other activities meant to combat COVID-19.
She said that the society, since January this year, had engaged in sensitisation at bus terminals and other public places following the outbreak of the disease.
“We have set up hand washing points at public places and intensified community education on safety protocols in all the regions.
“During the lockdown we partnered Nestle Ghana to distribute items to about 50 000 households in Accra and Kumasi. About 500 volunteers are still on the field educating the public and engaging community leaders in other areas where hand washing centres can be established,” she explained.
Highlighting other support services, Madam Adasu said that the Ghana Red Cross had distributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to hospitals and schools across the country with support from different organisations including Master Card and the International Federation for the Red Cross.
The Regional Manageress further explained that the society was in the process of identifying and supporting persons who had lost their jobs due to the impact of the pandemic, adding that five markets had been earmarked to get mechanised boreholes to help improve on access to potable water.
Madam Adasu therefore appealed to corporate bodies to help absorb part of the society’s administrative cost to help sustain their operations.
“We need people to provide used clothing and other useful items which we can in turn give out to vulnerable people to improve their lives.
“If volunteers can receive similar packages given to other frontline workers or be put on monthly allowances by government this would be very useful as well,” she added.
Touching on other aspects of their work, she noted that suspension of sporting activities and closure of schools had halted part of their activities.
Madam Adasu appealed for more government support and called for a review of the Red Cross Act which had for the past years not been amended.
She also appeal to all support the Red Cross by patronising first aid training, first aid kits, health and safety training.
The Ghana Red Cross Society was established by an Act of Parliament (ACT 10 1958) and the Geneva Convention to, among other things, deliver relief and humanitarian services to the vulnerable during disasters and emergiencies.
By Ernest Nutsugah
Troubled and anxious citizens in Damongo of the Savannah Region have expressed concerns about the number of young people, believed to be under the age of 18, involved in ‘shisha’ smoking in pubs and drinking spots within the township.
Eyewitnesses say the minors were seen patronising nightlife venues, where Shisha smoking happen in the open.
The situation has sparked renewed public concern over the enforcement of child protection laws and regulations governing the operations of entertainment centres in the municipality and country as a whole.
An eyewitness, who spoke to The Spectator on conditions of anonymity for security reasons, noted that the situation was becoming increasingly common.
“This is not a one-off incident. It is becoming very common, but residents like us cannot openly report or speak about it because our lives will be at risk,” he said.
Under Ghanaian law, minors were prohibited from patronising Shisha.
Public health experts have consistently warned that shisha use exposes users to harmful substances that can negatively affect brain development, respiratory health, and overall well-being, particularly among young people.
The residents believe the alleged incidents point to broader challenges relating to youth supervision, substance abuse, and weak enforcement of existing regulations and have called on municipal authorities, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring of pubs and entertainment centres to ensure compliance with the law.
In an effort to address the menace, Mr Salisu Be-Awurbi, the Savannah Regional Minister, has led public education campaigns, engaged security agencies, and supported enforcement actions to address the rising use of illicit substances in the region.
Wura Kelly Seidu Boresah I, the Chief of Damongo, has also called on all stakeholders including parents, community leaders, institutions, and young people to actively support efforts to curb drug abuse, warning that the rising consumption of hard drugs poses a serious health threat to the future of the youth in the Savannah Region.
He also cautioned individuals involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs to immediately desist from the practice, stressing that offenders will face arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law.
From Geoffrey Buta, Damongo, Savannah Region
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Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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