Dr Ofei-Aboagye (seated third right) in a group photograph with other dignitaries

The Social Enterprise Development Foundation of West Africa, SEND West Africa’s model and approach to transforming lives in communities across the continent must be replicated in government institutions, a seasoned policy analyst Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye has said.

SEND West Africa, is a civil society organisation currently in three countries; Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Delivering a lecture as part of activities to mark Send West Africa’s 25th anniversary celebrations in Accra last Wednesday, she said the civil society organisation had assisted in supporting the poor and needy in society to live a decent life which must be a case study to other organisations and the government.

“Over the past two decades, SEND West Africa has contributed to changing lives and supporting the needy and vulnerable in the continent,” she said.

“It has also committed to alleviating poverty on the continent with several projects ranging from health, agriculture and businesses,” she stated.

She said their success story over the years, had been inspiring organisations that were struggling to make impacts and must study SEND’s approach.

The lecture was under the theme; ‘25 Years of Championing Transformative Advocacy and Livelihood Security for the Poor and Vulnerable.’

She commended SEND West Africa for the remarkable role they had played in development practices, promoting livelihood security and human rights.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to eradicate poverty completely and also promote livelihood security and advocacy especially as far as the poor and vulnerable were concerned,” she stated.

“We will continue to champion the course to ensure the voices of the vulnerable is heard through SEND. There is the need to champion the rights of the poor and vulnerable,” she stressed.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for SEND West Africa, Mr Siapha Kamara reiterated that, the outfit had demonstrated leadership which was key to making a difference in the lives of the poor in society.
According to him, good leadership was essential to the development of a country and the world at large.
In view of that, he said they were committed to leading the charge as far as the development of the continent was concerned.
He said they were looking forward to expanding to other parts of the continent and the world at large to make their impact felt across the globe.
Giving a background on SEND West Africa’s journey, the Board Chair, Ms Janet Adama Mohammed said they were established in August 1998 as a livelihood and food security promoting non-governmental organisation (NGO) focusing on the then North-Eastern parts of Ghana.
However, she said they later transformed into a multi-dimensional response organisation that worked around the human security, development, and peacebuilding in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
The vision she said was to ensure that the rights and well-being of Africans were guaranteed while promoting good governance and equality of men and women in West Africa and the area of education, agriculture, health and peacebuilding.
The event also saw an award presented to the oldest staff of SEND West Africa, Mr Mark Kofi Bow who had been working for the past 20 years.
By Michael D. Abayateye