Millennium Promise Alliance

Uganda to Scale the Local Economic Growth Support Project Across 55 Districts

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 20:41:43 GMT

The Government of Uganda, through the Ministry of Local Government , is set to expand the Local Economic Growth Support (LEGS) project from 17 to 55 districts, marking a major milestone in strengthening community resilience and livelihoods. The Ministry of Local Government, together with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF) , led an appraisal mission in July 2025 to review the achievements of LEGS I and hear directly from communities.

Supported by the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, the LEGS project strengthens rural livelihoods through coordinated investments in agriculture and natural resource management, including expanded water access for households and production, improved market infrastructure, and greater availability of affordable microfinance.

As part of the recent assessment, the delegation engaged with district officials, project beneficiaries, and implementation staff to review progress to date. Findings from these consultations will inform the design of Phase II, with a focus on scaling climate resilience and ensuring durable impact .

Community Transformation in Action

From safe, piped water in Kyejonjo and Katakwi , to new solar mini-grids powering cooperatives in Magoro , LEGS has already demonstrated how integrated infrastructure and livelihoods support can change lives. Health centers now have reliable water, youth cooperatives are saving and reinvesting in local businesses, and women farmers are using climate-smart tools to increase yields and income.

Millennium Promise Alliance: Partnering for Scale

As an implementing partner, Millennium Promise Alliance plays a central role in coordinating service delivery, providing technical expertise, strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems, and integrating climate-smart agriculture and sustainable livelihoods into local government plans. In this project, MPA Uganda works closely to support the Ministry of Local Government Uganda. MPA ensures that project investments translate into measurable impact aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During the appraisal mission to guide the forthcoming scale-up, Mr. Samuel Travis , MPA’s Director of Corporate Affairs , and Dr. Seth Ohemeng Dapaah , Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, and SDGs , joined stakeholders in the field to review progress and meet with community beneficiaries. They were welcomed by Dr. David Siriri , Country Director , Millennium Promise Alliance Uganda, whose leadership on the ground has been instrumental in driving results in Uganda.

“Our work is about ensuring investments reach people where they live; turning financing into energy for households and businesses, equipment for farmers, and opportunities for young entrepreneurs,” said Mr. Travis , noting the importance of partnerships in sustaining results.

Dr. Dapaah emphasized the learning agenda: “By strengthening monitoring and evaluation, we ensure that communities and policymakers have the data needed to scale what works and adapt where needed. This is how we build resilient systems, not just projects.”

Dr. David Siriri also shared, "The expansion of LEGS will reflect what we witness in the field every day: when communities receive the right tools, infrastructure, and support, they accelerate their own development. This success is made possible through strong partnerships between communities, district governments, the Ministry of Local Government, IsDB, LLF, and our team on the ground. As we move into Phase II, our priority is to scale solutions that are already improving lives while ensuring these investments remain sustainable for generations.”

The Path Forward

With the expansion to 55 districts, LEGS II will prioritize:

Climate adaptation through resilient crops, water harvesting, and infrastructure
Local governance capacity to manage and sustain investments
Financial sustainability via community revenue and cooperative models
Impact measurement to capture lessons and scale best practices

For the Ministry of Local Government, IsDB, LLF, and implementing partners like MPA and others, this is a blueprint for how integrated, people-centered development can lift rural communities and accelerate Uganda’s progress toward the SDGs. We will provide more news on the impacts and progress of the LEGS project soon.

2024 SDSN Ghana International Symposium

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 01:22:40 GMT

The University of Education, Winneba (UEW), in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), Ghana hosted the maiden international symposium on SDGs on Wednesday June 19, 2024. The symposium used a participatory approach to engage a wide range of stakeholders to discuss, review and share data on Ghana’s SDGs achievements. Some of the issues discussed included Climate change, eco-sustainability and livelihood through the prism of the SDGs, Achieving sustainability through innovation, technology and empowerment, leveraging technology, innovation and digitalization to initiate new possibilities on the SDGs in Ghana and a panel discussion on empowering communities to own the SDGs through school curricula and social campaign.

Prof. Stephen Jobson Mitchual, Vice-Chancellor (known elsewhere as President) of UEW, in his welcome address emphasized the university's commitment to sustainability through education, research, and community engagement. He highlighted the partnership between UEW and SDSN as a testament to their dedication to sustainable development. Prof. Mitchual expressed UEW's readiness to collaborate with other universities globally to mobilize scientific and technological expertise and resources for implementing the SDGs.

Prof. Yaw Gyan Baffour, Chairman of NDPC, for his part, recognized the efforts of successive governments of Ghana in crafting economic policies aimed at achieving the SDGs. He pointed out the persistent economic challenges exacerbated by external shocks and stressed the need to reassess past economic policies to safeguard Ghana's economy. Prof. Gyan Baffour also introduced NDPC's long-term development framework, targeting Ghana's transition to an upper-middle-income country by 2057, and urged political parties to align their future manifestos with this vision.

Dr. Kodjo Esseim Mensah Abrompa, Director-General of NDPC, delivered the keynote address, acknowledging Ghana’s progress in achieving over 60% of the SDGs. He highlighted significant achievements in poverty reduction, health, and technology while acknowledging the need for continued efforts to meet all the goals. He identified numerous areas for sustainable solutions and called upon the University Chapter to begin work on them using communication as a tool.

The Special Presidential Advisor on SDGs, Dr. Eugene Owusu, called for increased investment in research and innovative financing to bridge the financial gap impeding SDG implementation. He urged participants and the government to leverage emerging technologies and innovation across all sectors to achieve the SDGs.

Exhibition

As of the activities, an exhibition of posters depicting integration of the 17 SDGcs into Basic school curriculum of Ghana was mounted by a team of 21 graduate students from the Department of Educational Foundations of the University. The students gave a comprehensive analysis of the curriculum using the lens of the SDG.\

Goodwill Message

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, sent the house a goodwill message from abroad. He expressed his appreciation for the organization of the symposium, briefly highlighted some important events at the international front and applauded Ghana’s efforts at making quality education accessible for all. He argued that because quality education was pivotal in the attainments of the rest of the SDGs, the efforts of the government to make education more accessible to all is highly commendable.

Bridging the Gap on Climate Change

Professor Simon Mariwah, from the University of Cape Coast, led a session and made a comprehensive presentation on the complexities of climate change and eco-sustainability. His analysis focused on the practical implementation of SDG policies, exploring the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Ghana. This in-depth examination sparked lively discussions among participants, fostering a collaborative environment to bridge the gap between policy pronouncements and real-world action for a more sustainable future.

Technological Advancements: Powering Progress Towards Sustainability

Professor Benjamin Ghansah, a leading IT expert from UEW presented an in-depth examination of how innovation and technology can be harnessed to propel progress towards achieving the SDGs. He specified technological advancements with the potential to revolutionize various sectors, such as renewable energy solutions, sustainable agricultural practices, and data-driven resource management. He provoked dispassionate and lively discussions among participants on practical application of technology and the crucial role in creating a more sustainable future.

Empowering Communities

The climax of the event was marked by a panel discussion which featured Professor Eric Ananga, Professor Esther Danso-Wiredu, and Educationist Mrs. Joyce Larnyoh. Panelists delved into how school curriculum could be revamped by integrating SDG principles to foster a generation of environmentally conscious citizens. The conversation highlighted the power of social campaigns in raising awareness, mobilizing communities, and ensuring active participation in developing sustainable solutions to the numerous problems facing the world. This session offered valuable insights into the critical role empowered communities can play in driving sustainable development.

Closing Remarks and Take away

The representative from the Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) provided a comprehensive overview and takeaway session; summarizing the key themes and actionable strategies that emerged throughout the day's discussions. His closing remarks emphasized the importance of continued collaboration, knowledge sharing, and unwavering commitment to translate the valuable insights gleaned from the symposium into concrete action. The session undoubtedly served as a powerful call to action, urging participants to champion sustainability solutions within their respective spheres of influence.

Lives and Livelihoods Fund Engages with Ugandan Officials to Boost Economic Growth and Food Security

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 15:18:48 GMT

The Ministry of Local Government, Uganda, hosted a 13-member senior delegation from the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF) from August 14–18, 2023. The 5-day working visit was organized under the LLF-supported initiative, titled, Local Economic Growth Support (LEGS) Project, co-financed by the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Local Government. The Project is executed through the Ministry of Local Government with The Microfinance Centre (MSC) and Millennium Promise Alliance, Uganda as an Implementing Partner and Technical Backstopping Consultant. The LEGS project is a collaborative initiative of global partners such as the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), and King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief).

The LEGS Project covers 17 Districts of Uganda including Adjumani, Alebtong, Bunyangabu, Buikwe, Buyende, Gomba, Kabarole, Katakwi, Kyenjojo, Kibuuku, Kumi, Luweero, Nakaseke, Ntoroko, Nwoya, Rukungiri and Tororo.

The objective of the workshop was to articulate and reinforce the joint efforts of the Fund and the Government of Uganda in prioritizing medium to long-term development goals such as poverty reduction, sustainable development, and climate change management through the LEGS project. The Islamic Development Bank investment in Uganda through the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF) has been a milestone achievement for the country. The Fund started its field activities in 2019 through a US$ 33 million flagship initiative to construct rural infrastructure and $10 million IsDB Rural Finance Scheme loan for the Local Economic Growth Support (LEGS) Project, covering the 17 districts.

LLF’s work in Uganda supports a range of direct and indirect sectors, while focusing on three programmatic pillars:

agricultural productivity and value chain development
sustainable and inclusive economic growth
human capital and institutional capacity development

The LLF partners witnessed the impacts of LEGS Project during the mission visit. The delegation headed by Dr. Issahaq Umar Iddrisu, Manager Islamic Development Bank Regional Hub Kampala, engaged in senior-level talks with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries of Ministry of Local Government; Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities; Ministry of Water and Environment; Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries; and Ministry of Trade, Industries and Cooperatives. The meetings focused on fostering greater collaboration towards ensuring steady economic growth and sustainable food security in Uganda.

The delegation visited select project sites in the Rwenzori sub-region to observe the interventions, structures and support put in place to enhance smallholder farming systems, and bolster value chains of strategic food security crops such as rice, maize, coffee, and tea. The delegation also visited farmers, market traders, business cooperatives and female and youth entrepreneurs to discuss how they are benefitting from the LEGS project to play a better role in the agricultural and economic development of local communities.

The IsDB-administered LLF’s financial support to key growth sectors such as rural infrastructure, agricultural productivity, human capital development, adoption of renewable energy, and sustainable use of Uganda’s natural resources, is crucial to sustainably improve the economic status and reduce environmental vulnerabilities of disenfranchised communities.

Millennium Promise Alliance is committed to assisting the Government of Uganda implement vital programs like Local Economic Growth Support (LEGS) through provision of science-based and innovative practical solutions. In support of the Ministry of Local Government, under the LEGS project we are helping to strengthen rural infrastructure, improve household income and livelihoods, as well as develop climate smart interventions along the agriculture value chains.

Source: IsDB.org | Livesandlivelihoodsfund.org

PADEF-EJ officially launches ultra-modern health post in Senegal's Keur Serigne Louga district

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 15:09:01 GMT

The Support Project for the Development of Female Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment (PADEF-EJ) coordinator, Mame Thierno Gueye and the Governor of Senegal's Louga region, El Hadj Bouya Amar, on Wednesday, August 9th 2023, officially launched an ultra-modern health center in the Keur Serigne Louga district. The health center includes an ambulance, two reception rooms, offices, treatment, observation and hospitalization rooms. The medical post also has a maternity ward, pharmacy, and staff accommodations. Millennium Promise Alliance is supporting PADEF-EJ by providing technical assistance, and implementation of the infrastructures and services components including the establishment of the new health post.

The new health infrastructures are a result of a partnership between PADEF-EJ and the Association of Residents of the Keur Serigne Louga district. The center will solve a great obstacle of lack of quality healthcare for the surrounding communities. The center and medical expertise have been well received as up to now, more than 1,700 people have been consulted by practitioners. The health center is also contributing to a reduction in home births, thus far, 27 women haven given birth in the new maternity ward.

The project coordinator, Mame Thierno Gueye, declared that PADEF-EJ embraces the State's vision based on the observation that Senegal is faced with a deficit in terms of basic social infrastructure, particularly health. "As part of PADEF-EJ, in partnership with Millennium Promise, the project continued an initiative of emigrants from the Keur Serigne Louga Sud district who had already started to build this building," informed Mr. Gueye. He points out that "the position has made it possible to solve a good part of the problems of home birth in the Keur Seringe Louga district and the surrounding districts".

This vital health intervention addresses two of PADEF-EJ's objectives to (i) Facilitate the development of female entrepreneurship through Islamic finance; and (ii) Generalize access to basic social infrastructure and services in the municipalities of Léona, Ngeune Sarr, Sakal and Louga. The health center is constructed at the cost of an estimated FCfa 120 million, which was built with financial support of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). State services and the municipality of Louga will continue to support the health post going forward.

Recent achievements in other sectors of the project also include an agricultural shopping center in the Montagne extension district and a cereal product processing unit under construction in Medina Salam, a milk marketing unit in Potou, and a financing component at Dahra and Kébémer.

PADEF-EJ is helping to strengthen the health systems and decentralize the supply of care for the benefit of the communities throughout the district.

Source: aps.sn and seneweb.com

PADEF-EJ distributes supplies to women processors of fish products; establishes agricultural shopping center and cereal processing units

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 18:17:01 GMT

The Support Project for Women's Development and Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment (PADEF-EJ) will soon provide women in the Louga region with an agricultural shopping center and a cereal processing unit worth an estimated 168 million FCFA, as shared on Monday, August 7th, 2023, by head of its value chain, Ms. Seynabou Dia.

“We have just visited two infrastructures, an agricultural shopping center and a cereal processing unit, built by PADEF-EJ, which will be made available to women in the Louga region in the coming months,” she declared. Speaking after a visit to these two infrastructures, Ms. Dia indicated that "the rate of execution of the works of the processing unit is at 75%, while that of the agricultural shopping center is at 78%.” These two infrastructures, she said, will be delivered within two months.

The cereal processing unit, which is located in the Medina Salam district, is made up of a warehouse for storing raw materials, a processing room, a packaging room, a product storage room, an office for the producers, a point of sale and housing for the concierge.

The agricultural shopping center, which is located in the Montagne extension district, it is made up of 60 stores, stalls, and a hall for women to market and sell products more efficiently.

Ms. Seynabou Dia specified that, "the beneficiaries are exclusively women from economic interest groups selected on the basis of criteria validated by the regional committee headed by the governor of the Louga region".

In addition, the Coordinator of The Support Project for the Development of Women's Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment (PADEF-EJ), Mr. Mame Thierno Gueye, on Tuesday, August 8th, 2023, distributed supplies and materials to women processors of fish products in the commune of Potou, Senegal.

This donation, cost of which is estimated at 12 million CFA francs, is made up of large and small model fermentation tanks and drying keys which help women in the processing of fish products. Mr. Gueye stated, "This is the second batch of materials that we have handed over, and we are doing it in partnership with the Millennium Promise, which is an implementing partner of PADEF-EJ in the component of infrastructure, based at the level of the municipality of Léona."

The president of the women fish processors of the fishing wharf, Ms. Sala Sow stated, "We are very happy because these items will help us in our work and improve the quality of our products." She added, “We ask the project managers to continue to support us because since their arrival in the area, we feel a real improvement in our work and living conditions."

These infrastructures and supply distributions are carried out within the framework of PADEF-EJ, a project of the Senegal Ministry of Women financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Government of Senegal with implementing and technical support from Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA).

Source: https://aps.sn/

Kengo Kuma Designs Vocational School in Ghana

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 15:17:00 GMT

SDG Promise Japan, a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization offering poverty reduction programs and other support measures to vulnerable populations will build a vocational school in Ghana. The world-famous architect Kengo Kuma is designing the school. Known for designing the main stadium of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, a trip to Africa in 1978 was an eye-opening experience that shaped Kengo Kuma's design philosophy. Now, he is ready to reciprocate by designing the vocational school in Ghana, free of charge. SDGs Promise Japan will lead the construction and project. Millennium Promise Alliance is providing technical support to SDGs Promise for the vocational school project.

The Ghana Vocational Training Institute will be built in the town of Manso Nkwanta, in Ghana's Ashanti region. The site is close to where Kuma visited as a graduate student. " The most important trip in my life was to West Africa when I was a graduate student, " Kuma told reporters. He recalled traveling south across Algeria to Niger, facing nothing but desert for days. " It was only when we arrived in Ghana that we came across green plants. It felt like I came home to Japan," he said. "Soil, trees and grass. The basic elements of all my designs were inspired by my trip to Ghana. "

The facility comprises classrooms and dormitories set amid lush green trees, where students between 18 and 35 years old will take classes in stonemasonry, plumbing, carpentry, and other vocations -- over three years. The first classrooms will be ready late summer, and the rest will be built in accordance to funds raised for the project. The cost will be covered by the Japanese government's aid programs as well as crowdfunding. The idea is to offer local citizens a path to proper employment, as opposed to taking part in illegal gold mining, which is becoming prevalent in the region.

The design is typical Kuma, with ample use of wood. Corridors with outsized roofs will shield students from the punishing sun and heavy rain, creating shade to cool the air flowing into the building. Dormitory rooms will be organized in a zigzag fashion, creating space between them where students can study or socialize.

" After COVID-19, architects around the world have begun to think of ways to ventilate buildings. We will prepare airy rooms that don't depend on air conditioning, " Kuma said. " With Prime Minister Kishida visiting soon, the relations between Japan and Ghana are expected to deepen, " he added. " Both countries share a culture that coexists with nature. Together we can tackle climate change through collaboration such as this. "

Millennium Promise Alliance participates in the Regional Rice Value Chain Program (RRVCP) Midterm Workshop

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 21:00:14 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance attends the IsDB 2023 RRVCP Midterm Review Workshop which took place March 16-18 in Dakar, Senegal

The objective of The Islamic Development Bank Regional Rice Value Chain Program (RRVCP) Midterm Workshop was to review the implementation progress of the program and identify the challenges hindering its progress in Phase -I countries including; The Gambia, Guinea, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. Cameroon also attended to observe in preparation for its newly approved RRVCP which will launch in Phase-II. The RRVCP is financed by The Islamic Development Bank. A Millennium Promise Alliance team comprised of Director of Operations, Ms. Fatima Bousso Kane; Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Samuel Travis; Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Seth Ohemeng-Daapah; and Uganda Country Director, Dr. David Siriri attended the workshop. MPA participated as a technical partner to observe and provide feedback to the member country teams.

The ISDB Regional Rice Value Chain Program (RRVCP) aims to improve production and productivity in a sustainable manner. The focus is on value chain development, seeking to alleviate constraints impeding the development of rice cultivation by impacting actors across the entire value chain including smallholder famers, processors, agro-dealers, aggregators, financial institutions, and rural communities in production and processing areas.

The RRVCP seeks to:

Support government’s efforts to substantially increase the production and productivity of rice using the private sector value chain led approach
Increase smallholder farmers income and reduce poverty and food insecurity
Improve the livelihood of the rural population
Create commercial opportunities for targeted rice farmers with the objective to generate access to markets

Experts call for re-focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to meet Africa's transformation Agenda 2063 and global Agenda 2030

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 19:39:23 GMT

Remarks from the Voluntary National and Local Review Workshop; which was held as a side event of the 9th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) in Niamey, Niger.

Delegates at the 9th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 via UNECA

A concerted re-focus on sustainable development goals is needed in order to meet the aspirations of the Agenda 2030 and Africa’s transformation Agenda 2063, according to speakers at the regional preparatory workshop for African voluntary national reviews and voluntary local reviews (VNR) workshop in Niamey, Niger.

Voluntary National and Local Reviews – also known as VNRs and VLRs – are meant to help African countries and regions to assess progress made on SDGs and challenges that need to be addressed. The VNR workshop was a side event ahead of the 9th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) scheduled to run from February 28 to March 2 in Niamey, Niger. It was organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) with the support of the African Union, UN-Habitat, and others.

“We have seen how the effects of the pandemic and war in Ukraine have derailed progress that had been made. State budgets for social policy, environmental action and economic development are threatened by the tightening of financial resources, just at the moment when these interventions are needed the most,” said ECA’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Hanan Morsy. “But amidst these challenges, the African region has countless examples of adaptable and effective measures taken to progress towards the two Agendas.”

Morsy also said the year 2023 represents the mid-way point towards the global 2030 Agenda and the end of the first 10-year implementation of the regional Agenda 2063 of the African Union. “We also congratulate the cities and municipalities across the continent that are undertaking local reviews. VLRs are a powerful grassroots tool to promote sustainable development,” said Morsy.

The ECA Chief Economist noted that the Commission will continue to support VLRs across Africa, harnessing the regional VLR guidelines developed in cooperation with UN- Habitat and United Cities and Local Governments of Africa with a mandate given by member States at the 6th ARFSD in 2020.

Christina Duarte, the special adviser on Africa to the United Nations Secretary-General, highlighted the importance of home grown initiatives, stating “policy makers and partners need to understand that sustainable development can be fully achieved if internally driven.” Duarte said for Africa to achieve its SDGs, countries must address issues of debt management, localise sustainable development, and establish strong domestic institutions. She also underscored the need for a balanced international trade system and a restructuring of the global financial architecture.

A delegate from the DR Congo, Modeste Kakanda, reiterated the importance of integrating local and national data to ensure better synergies. Kakanda also identified capacity building and resource mobilization as areas that need to be strengthened by VNR.

According to Oumar Sylla, Director, UN-Habitat Regional Office for Africa, the continent is currently experiencing the most rapid urbanization of any continent worldwide. This urbanization presents an opportunity for cities to innovate and make significant progress in local development. Sylla emphasized the importance of monitoring the implementation of SDGs moving forward.

Africa has countless examples of adaptable and effective measures taken to progress towards the two agendas, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and war in Ukraine. But to achieve the SDGs, strides must be made to address issues of debt management, localize the sustainable development and establish strong domestic institutions, while balancing the international trade system and restructuring the global financial architecture.

via NewTimes

Millennium Promise Alliance partnering with Simprints and Ghana Health Service to deploy biometrics in pilot project in the Eastern region of Ghana

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 15:00:52 GMT

The pilot project is active in more than 10 health facilities in two districts selected by the Ghana Health Service in the country’s Eastern Region.

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) is supporting Simprints in the Eastern Region of Ghana with Monitoring and Evaluation on Gavi’s user surveys, provision of technical support, and community mobilization for using biometric devices to deliver maternal and child healthcare services.

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced plans in 2021 to use Simprints’ biometric solution within the framework of a healthcare and vaccine delivery program. The GHS Director General, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye has hailed advantages of the technology. “I believe that this initiative in the long term will ensure unique patient records created without risk of disease transmission among health workers and patients, reliable data on the number of individuals immunized which leads to more precise coverage rates and faster intervention, avoidance of duplicate records through biometric verification, which can prevent unnecessary double dosing (wasting precious supply), and creating important time and cost savings,” he said during the launch of the project.

According to Cisco , which has supported Simprints in its development of contactless biometrics since 2018, the contactless approach has multiple advantages: it is more hygienic, more accurate, quicker to deploy, requires no specialist equipment and is more culturally acceptable in some regions.

Millennium Promise Alliance Ghana will help Ghana Health Service integrate the tech solution with existing systems to enable it to better meet the health needs of all Ghanaians. Starting in the Eastern region, the project is also the first national vaccination program to use contactless biometrics.

Special Advisor on SDGs to the President of Ghana visits Millennium Promise Alliance Ghana

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 14:46:50 GMT

Dr. Eugene Owusu, Special Advisor on the SDGs to the President of Ghana, and Head of the SDGs Advisory Unit in the Office of the President, recently embarked on a courtesy visit to the Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) offices in Accra, Ghana. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss new areas of collaboration with MPA and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). Dr. Owusu also serves as Chair of the SDSN Ghana Governing Council .

The SDGs Advisory Unit was established in August 2017 to provide technical, policy and strategic support to the President of Ghana in his global role as co-Chair of the UN Secretary General’s Eminent Group of Advocates. The SDG Advisory Unit provides support through its three ' P's ', namely Popularization , educational activities on the SDGs, Policy , analytics and outreach, and Partnership building and programming for accelerated implementation of the Goals.

Millennium Promise Alliance looks forward to partnering with Ghana's SDG Advisory Unit for further alignment of our synergies to better support all Ghanaians in the journey to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Governing Council of Sustainable Development Solutions Ghana (SDSN Ghana) Hosts Inaugural Meeting

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 19:18:14 GMT

The inaugural meeting of the eight-member high-level Governing Council was held on August 16th, 2022 in Accra, Ghana. The Governing Council was established by the Ghana chapter of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) to spearhead and promote the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) throughout Ghana. SDSN is a global organization working with the United Nations under the Secretary-General to promote the SDGs. The organization mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical problem solving for Sustainable Development.

The high-level SDSN Ghana Governing Council is comprised of:

Dr. Eugene Owusu, Special Advisor on the SDGs to the President of Ghana and Head of the SDGs Advisory Unit in the Office of the President (Chair)
Hon. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education
Nana Osei-Bonsu, CEO, Private Enterprise Federation
Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana, Legon.
Dr. Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative, Ghana
Prof. Mawutor Avoke, Vice-Chancellor, University of Education, Winneba
Dr. Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, Director-General, National Development Planning Commission
Dr. Seth Ohemeng-Dapaah , Country Director, Millennium Promise Alliance, Ghana

Dr. Eugene Owusu, Chairperson, SDSN Ghana Governing Council, said they will leverage the knowledge, analytics, and policy capacities of the SDSN network globally to support the work in Ghana. “ Essentially, we are going to bring all the knowledge and expertise that exists between the SDG ecosystem as a local network, bring it to bear on the implementation of the goals, ” he stressed.

Dr. Owusu said Ghana was doing “quite well” on meeting the SDG targets, however, its major challenges are on the environmental goals. “ The indications on the social and economic goals have not been bad except with the recent challenges, but then, we are back on track. Where we have the greatest challenge is on the environmental goals, ” he also added.

Dr. Seth Ohemeng-Dapaah , Chairperson, Steering Committee of SDSN Ghana, said the organization would be implementing awareness creation and mobilizing local and international support to promote the SDGs in the country. He also said they would be focusing on the six priority areas of the SDGs, including education and research, accessible healthcare, sustainable and renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, urban infrastructure and digital transformation.

Nana Osei Bonsu, CEO of the Private Enterprise Federation in Ghana also indicated the critical role of the private sector in providing practical solutions and resources for implementing the SDGs.

Addressing the meeting virtually, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs , President of SDSN and Founder/CEO of Millennium Promise Alliance, highlighted SDSN’s strong partnerships with the UN, national governments, leading academic, research and non-profit organizations in promoting the education, policy analysis, and the engagement of youth on policy-relevant work to promote sustainable development. Prof. Sachs urged the Governing Council to give their best advice on how SDSN Ghana can partner to make further progress on the SDGs.

As part of the immediate next steps, SDSN Ghana will convene seminars at the University of Ghana and at the University of Education Winneba, the other co-hosting institution. The new network plans to officially launch before the end of the year.

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via gna.org.gh | unsdsn.org

Millennium Promise Alliance provides training to Gaoual Koundara Mali (PDRI-GKM) Project team in Guinea for Performance Monitoring and Capacity Building

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 20:49:20 GMT

MPA is helping to build the capacity of the Gaoual-Koundara-Mali Integrated Rural Development Project (PDRI-GKM) in Guinea to undertake data collection for performance monitoring of project interventions

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) is presently partnering with the Government of Guinea and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to provide Technical Assistance to the Gaoual-Koundara-Mali Integrated Rural Development Project (PDRI-GKM) in Guinea. Our team recently carried out a mission to Koundara during the month of July, 2022. The MPA team convened daily technical working sessions to train staff and specialists of the Project Implementation Unit on data collection, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) indicators, and crop harvesting/sampling techniques. Millennium Promise Alliance provides strategic consultation and TA services to strengthen multi-sector capacities, while also assisting in the preparation of necessary tools for M&E during the implementation of PDRI-GKM project's activities.

We look forward to sharing more news and updates from this fruitful collaboration with the IsDB and Government of Guinea as the project progresses. For more information on Millennium Promise Alliance SDG solutions and technical assistance services, send all inquiries here .

Jeffrey Sachs Awarded 2022 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development for Leading Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:41:43 GMT

18 June 2022, Taipei : In the first of four consecutive announcements, the Tang Foundation announced the winner of the 2022 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs. The Tang Prize is an international academic award set up to create a better world for all of humanity. A world-renowned professor in economics who has made great contributions to the establishment and promotion of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Prof. Sachs served as Special Advisor to three UN Secretaries-General, and is currently Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). He is awarded for “leading transdisciplinary sustainability science and creating the multilateral movement for its applications from village to nation and to the world,” according to the selection committee’s citation.

Contributions of Jeffrey Sachs to the field and practice of sustainable development

Humankind is confronted with many tough challenges, including environmental pollution; extreme weather events; the energy crisis; shocks to our physical, social, and economic wellbeing caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and food shortages and raging inflation exacerbated by regional confrontations. As an eminent economist of international distinction, Prof. Sachs has conducted ground-breaking research in many areas, such as debt crises, hyperinflations, transition from central planning to market economies, and eradication of extreme poverty. Moreover, when addressing complex issues related to global sustainable development, he has combined the fields of global economics, public health, equity, and sustainability to pioneer a multidisciplinary approach to solving these problems, transforming sustainable development into an integrated field of study and practice. His outstanding scholarship, advice to world leaders, educational innovation, and efforts in the global advocacy and realization of sustainable development have proven him to be a true leader of great vision, profound influence, and imbued with deep humanistic concern.

An example of his pioneering innovative transdisciplinary approach to these issues can be found in his engagement with the Millennium Villages Project, which he chaired on behalf of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 2002 to 2006. He was tasked with developing a concrete action plan to attain the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) using best practices in science, technology, and public policy. Prof. Sachs was also in charge of the UN Millennium Village Project (MVP), which was implemented from 2006-2015 after the UN General Assembly adopted the key recommendations of the Millennium Project at a special session in September 2005. The MVP aimed to help rural Africa and was carried out in ten countries including Senegal, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. During these ten years, a range of notable successes were achieved, including raising agricultural production, reducing child stunting, and cutting child mortality rates, affecting the lives of more than half a million people. The key concepts of the MVP to integrate rural development to achieve the MDGs are now being adopted by many other countries to help support national anti-poverty programs.

Prof. Sachs’ pursuit to achieve the MDGs led to his engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from their very inception at the “Rio+20” conference in June 2012. The 17 SDGs provide the blueprint for creating a more sustainable future for all and address many global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation. To promote the SDGs, in 2012, Prof. Sachs established the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global consortium of universities and think tanks under the auspices of then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which functions as the largest global knowledge-based network to help countries achieve the SDGs. The SDSN has produced many highly influential reports, conducted academic studies, offered online courses, and held hundreds of SDG-related meetings around the world each year. The SDSN now has over 1600 member institutions in 47 networks across 137 countries.

With regard to combating anthropogenic climate change, Prof. Sachs saw the crucial importance of a long-term policy framework for climate control. He headed a global study on “deep decarbonization” which resulted in the highly influential “Pathways to Deep Decarbonization” report. The report lays out concrete and viable plans regarding issues like energy transition, industrial transformation, technological innovation, and governance mechanisms to enable 15 major carbon emitters to achieve deep decarbonization. Presented to Ban Ki-moon in September 2014, the report demonstrates how, during the decades leading to 2050, these 15 countries can find their own pathways to decarbonization that are compatible with their economic growth targets and technically feasible. Subsequently, many countries have taken on board this idea and designed their deep decarbonization pathways.

Prof. Sachs’ participation in the promotion of the Paris Agreement has been vital. He has long helped to formulate core policy concepts for global climate control as a scholar and an academic leader. During the intensive phase of negotiating the Agreement, he worked behind the scenes with France, the US, and many other governments to support the design and adoption of the Paris Agreement. The SDGs and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change have been hailed as the two essential pillars for the world to achieve sustainable development, and Prof. Sachs has played a unique role in both.

As one of the world’s leading experts on economic development, global macroeconomics, and the fight against poverty, Prof. Sachs has advised many heads of states and governments on complex economic challenges, including ending high inflations (Bolivia, Peru, Poland), negotiating debt relief (Bolivia, Brazil, Poland, and others), adopting market economic reforms (Poland, Russia), introducing new national currencies (Estonia, Slovenia), promoting regional development (China), and scaling up health systems (Ethiopia, Ghana, India, and many others). He has been awarded by several countries their highest honors for his board-based support of their economic reforms.

About Jeffrey Sachs

Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1954, Jeffrey Sachs received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees in economics from Harvard University. He is Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and has served as Special Advisor to three UN Secretaries-General. He is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor (by decree of the president of the French Republic), the Sustainable Development Leadership Award from India’s TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), and Japan’s Blue Planet Award. He has also received 40 honorary degrees from universities all over the world. His published papers and books number in the hundreds, including three New York Times bestsellers: The End of Poverty, Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, and The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity

About the Tang Prize

Since the advent of globalization, mankind has been able to enjoy the convenience brought forth by the advancement of human civilization and science. Yet a multitude of challenges, such as climate change, the emergence of new infectious diseases, wealth gap, and moral degradation, have surfaced along the way. Against this backdrop, Dr. Samuel Yin established the Tang Prize in December 2012. It consists of four award categories, namely Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Every other year, four independent and professional selection committees, comprising many internationally renowned experts, scholars, and Nobel winners, choose as Tang Prize laureates people who have influenced and made substantive contributions to the world, regardless of ethnicity, nationality or gender. A cash prize of NT$50 million (approx. US$1.7 million) is allocated to each category, with NT$10 million (approx. US$ 0.35 million) of it being a research grant intended to encourage professionals in every field to examine mankind’s most urgent needs in the 21st century, and become leading forces in the development of human society through their outstanding research outcomes and active civic engagement.

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via SDSN Secretariat , June 20, 2022

National Education Strategy for Rwanda adopts Millennium Village Project Community Education Workers Concept

Mon, 02 May 2022 14:49:55 GMT

Watch the video above from MSNBC with fmr. Millennium Promise Alliance Team Leader and Education Coordinator, John Mugabo explaining the concept of Community Education Workers. Rwandan Community Education Worker, Anne-Marie Mukaruzima works with students to encourage them to stay in school. Efforts like this have been responsible for improving drop-out rates.

The Millennium Village Project's “Community Education Workers" (CEW) concept, including name and responsibilities, were recently adopted in the new National Education Polic y of the Republic of Rwanda. We are thankful to the Government of Rwanda for its vehement support to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the inspiring work of CEWs, and our Rwanda team, which include longtime Education Coordinator and Team Leader, John Mugabo for their significant contributions towards this achievement.

Millennium Promise Alliance believes Community Education Workers, like Anne-Marie featured in the video above and many others are heroes whose dedication and commitment help communities to achieve SDG 4, and access to quality education.

The policy can be viewed here .

Community Health Workers trained as part of Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT)

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 18:21:06 GMT

The Partnership for Accelerated COVID-19 Testing (PACT) in Africa project is one of the community-based strategies being implemented by Millennium Promise Alliance, NAP+ Ghana, Young Health Advocates Ghana (YHAG) and Ghana Health Service with support from UNAIDS . A major part of this project is creating awareness about COVID-19 prevention measures and vaccination through Community Health Workers (CHWs) who conduct routine household visits.

Thirty CHWs from the six selected districts were trained, equipped for the task, remunerated, and are being supervised by community health nurses. The implementing districts are Amansie South, Oforikrom and Sekeyere Central in the Ashanti Region and La Nkwantanang-Madina, Accra Metropolitan and Ashiaman in the Greater Accra region. Each district run a two-day hybrid (in-person and online) workshop between 14 ^th to 24 ^th September, 2021 led by facilitators from the District Health Directorate and Millennium Promise Alliance, Ghana.

Topics covered during the training were:

The role of the Community Health Worker in curbing the spread of COVID-19 infections (including community education on COVID-19 vaccination).
Infection prevention and control (use of PPEs, hand hygiene)
Reducing COVID-19 and HIV related stigma and discrimination
Risk communication
Techniques for community entry and household visits
Confidentiality, data protection and ethics
Community mapping

ICSD 2021: Regenerative and Sustainable Agriculture for the SDGs, Leveraging ICT to Improve Agriculture Development

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 16:10:17 GMT

Watch Video of "Plenary Session 3: Regenerative and Sustainable Agriculture for the SDGs

The 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) took place online from September 20-21, 2021. The event brought together 2,057 participants from 119 different countries to discuss Research for Impact: A Sustainable and Inclusive Planet. The two day conference hosted 49 different sessions across multiple time zones to accommodate our global audience, with 204 oral presenters, 239 poster presenters, and 977 total authors.

Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc. and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network ( UNSDSN ) partnered to organize a plenary session at this year's ICSD titled, "Regenerative and Sustainable Agriculture for the SDGs: Leveraging ICT to Improve Agriculture Development" . This panel showcased organizations that specialize in Tele-Agric and regenerative agriculture initiatives, especially those that support acceleration of the achievement of SDGs 2, 4, 8, 11, 12, and 13, through financing, strategizing, and deploying targeted interventions. The panel featured projects and innovations which promote sustainable agricultural methodology and provide an opportunity to mobilize continued action to achieve the SDGs through cross-cutting strategies. Oulie Keita , Executive Director for the YouthConnekt Africa (YCA) Hub, moderated the panel.

Participants first heard from Moulay Lahcen Ennahli , Senior Vice President for West Africa at OCP, who talked about different innovations that have allowed OCP to support the achievement of the SDGs such as digitalization. Next, Momodou Lamin Ceesay , Global Lead Rural Development Specialist at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), who explained the importance of sustainable agriculture, defining it as agriculture that is productive with a high yield and that is diversified. He called out the three main goals of sustainable agriculture: environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. Given that the member countries of the IsDB are often rural countries with economies built around agriculture, sustainable agriculture is vital to ensuring sustainable livelihoods of those within those countries.

The event then turned to Millennium Promise Alliance, where we discussed how ICT is improving farming practices in Ghana. Farming is a large portion of the economy in Ghana, however the farmers are disadvantaged in a variety of ways such as poor road infrastructure, poor advisory services, lack of access to the ready market, etc., which prevents them from reaching their full potential. MPA presented our TeleAgric program, a communication and information technology through video, voice, and internet that connects small shareholder farmers to researchers for best farming practices and allows them to reach more of the market share. ICT has the ability to help bridge communication gaps and significantly improve farmers’ livelihoods.

Lastly, Safiatou Bah , the IFAD Country Programme Officer in Guinea, demonstrated the work that IFAD has done in Guinea through PNAAFA, the National Project to Support Value Chain actors. The project has empowered local actors and improved infrastructure, created storage facilities, developed irrigation systems, and established financial institutions which as connected many of Guinea’s farmers and villagers to global markets. Bringing ICT into these projects connects even more grassroots organizations to the support they need to continue to improve the well-being of farmers in Guinea.

Watch the video of the panel above. Click the button below for full detailed summary of all sessions at this year's ICSD.

Stakeholders Engagement on the Global School Program

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 19:48:37 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) in partnership with the University of Education Winneba (UEW), today organized a stakeholder’s meeting to officially present to the Hon. Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum the national report on the Global School Program (GSP).

The program which was launched in 2019 in 3 countries namely Morocco, Ghana and Turkey had a mission to institute a research program on sustainable development curriculum localization of which the Ghana chapter was successfully conducted by a team from the University of Education Winneba. Speaking at the program, Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA), shared that GSP was an initiative of the UNSDSN and MPA to incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals into the curricula of the Ghana Education Service to help improve on education in the country. We used the opportunity to present a letter from the President of UNSDSN, Professor Jeffery Sachs, appointing the Minister as a member of the High-Level Advisory Group of the UNSDSN Mission 4.7 project – a global leadership platform on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education. This gesture was as a result of the success of the GSP. Dr. Yaw Adutwum expressed his profound gratitude to the team for the successful research conducted and pledged his support to help implement the findings of the report as well as give his best as a member to Mission 4.7.

Millennium Promise Alliance supports the Ghana Statistical Service with 800 Tablets and Solar Chargers in the Upcoming Housing and Population Census

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 17:27:08 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance supports the Ghana Statistical Service with 800 Tablets and Solar Chargers in the Upcoming 2021 Housing and Population Census.

The housing and population census which started on the 27th June 2021 will collate data on the nation’s current housing units and the general population. Addressing the press during a presentation ceremony, representatives of Millennium Promise Alliance Ghana said that the gesture was to support the digitization approach adopted by the government of Ghana through the statistical services adding that it is the best in this era of technology.

Data collection and its preservation is key hence the need to adopt the right tools in the primary collection and processing. Receiving the items on behalf of the Ghana statistical Services, Dr. Grace Bediako, the Government Statistician was grateful to Millennium Promise for the items and urged other stakeholder institutions to emulate the kind gesture.

Dr. Grace Bediako added that, the items will go a long way to support the census. She said the solar chargers provided will help in the coverage of some parts of the country which are not on the national power grid. Dr. Grace Bediako appealed to Millennium Promise Alliance to support in the data and analyzing processing with its technological resources.

Launch of Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT) in Africa

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 14:17:22 GMT

On Wednesday, 21st April 2021, Millennium Promise Alliance in partnership with NAP+ Ghana, Young Health Advocates Ghana (YHAG) and Ghana Health Service with support from UNAIDS launched the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT) project in Accra. The project is aimed at strengthening community engagement in the response to COVID-19 in Ghana over the next nine months.

As part of the launch, a 2-day training was organized for district and community facilitators to prepare them for undertaking community-based social and behavior change activities on COVID-19 as well as on providing feedback on various aspects of COVID-19 measures.

The Director General of Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick K. Aboagye commended partners and stakeholders like MPA in the fight against the global pandemic, adding that the project represented a unique partnership among NGOs, UN Agencies, the Government and the communities to work together towards reducing infections.

The partnership sought to help increase testing efforts and reduce COVID-19 transmission in Africa. The focus of the project in Ghana include social and behavior change interventions to trigger and sustain COVID-19 preventive behaviours, counter myths and misconceptions, reduce stigma and address vaccine hesitancy.

In attendance were the Country Director of UNAIDS Ghana, Madam Angela Treton-Mbonde; President of NAP+ Ghana, Madam Elsie Ayeh; the CEO of Hope for Future Generations, Mrs Cecilia Senoo, the Programme Manager of the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo; the Director of Technical Services at the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr. Fred Nana Poku; and Madam Esi Nkoom, National School Health Education Coordinator, Ghana Education Service.

Millennium Promise Alliance supports Ghana Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service digitization of COVID-19 vaccinations with 1000 tablets

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 15:25:34 GMT

The Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) presented 1,000 tablets to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to support the MOH/GHS vaccination exercise currently ongoing in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Region. The donation is purposely aimed at supporting the digitization App locally designed by the GHS team to facilitate the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination process. Also, the App which sits on the DHIS2 platform of the GHS will provide real-time results of numbers vaccinated, next due dates and unique identification of the client.

During the presentation, Millennium Promise Alliance Ghana lauded the developers of the App for their contribution to the great mission the Ministry of Health together with the Ghana Health Service at such a critical time in support of health services delivery in Ghana. MPA is keen to promote the utilization of science and technology across the continent to strengthen our existing structures and systems. He added that the digitization of data during the vaccination exercise will go a long way to provide accurate data and aid in the fight against the pandemic.

The Deputy Director of Public Health at GHS expressed profound gratitude to the MPA, describing the gesture as very timely and also urged other organizations to emulate MPA’s charitable act because the health sector needs more of such help to facilitate a smooth vaccination process in Ghana.

Video: Jeffrey D. Sachs speaks at MIT X TAU Series on Africa’s Economic Power

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 14:14:51 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance, Founder and CEO Jeffrey Sachs joins the fourth webinar in an eleven-part series by MIT's Center for International Studies and True Africa University focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.

Millennium Promise donates 8,000 PPE to the Electoral Commission Directorate, Greater Accra Region through the Ghana Health Service

Sat, 05 Dec 2020 22:48:00 GMT

MPA donates 8,000 PPE to the Electoral Commission Directorate, Greater Accra Region through the Ghana Health Service. Representatives of Millennium Promise Alliance at the handing over ceremony stated that, considering the upcoming election in Ghana, the Electoral Commission and other security agencies are equally at the frontline now, their lives, health and wellbeing is at risk. MPA believes that, we can give them some kind of protection that will prevent possible infection of the coronavirus. This has inspired MPA to give the Electoral Commission this quantum of PPE to support their efforts and prevent the spread of Covid-19.

ICSD 2020: Multilateral Financing of the SDGS: African and Asian Experiences

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 14:38:07 GMT

Watch Video of "Plenary Session 3: Multilateral Financing of the SDGs: African and Asian Experiences"

The 8th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) went virtual for the first time on September 21 and 22, 2020! The event brought together 1,738 participants from 149 different countries to discuss Cross-Cutting Solutions for the Decade of Action. The two day conference hosted 14 different sessions across multiple time zones to accommodate our global audience, with 150 posters and 211 oral presentations given.

Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc. and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network ( UNSDSN ) partnered to organize a plenary session at this year's ICSD titled, "Multilateral Financing of the SDGs: African and Asian Experiences" . This session turned to the financial sector, showcasing organizations that provide multilateral financing of the SDGs on the continents of both Africa and Asia. The panel included university professors, practitioners in international development, and representatives of financial institutions, and the session highlighted opportunities to mobilize efforts through cross-cutting strategies and strong partnerships.

Phoebe Koundouri , Professor at the School of Economics at Athens University of Economics and Business, moderated the panel and opened by discussing the challenges the 2020 pandemic has placed on the efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2030.

Jeffrey Sachs , President of SDSN and Chair of Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc., discussed a new framework for understanding the SDGs in the form of Six Transformations: Education, Gender, and Inequality; Health, Wellbeing, and Demography; Energy Decarbonization and Sustainable Energy; Sustainable Food, Land, Water, and Oceans; Sustainable Cities and Communities; and the Digital Revolution for Sustainable Development. Each one of these transformations require massive investment, so the question becomes how do we finance these investments? Sachs emphasized the need for governments across the world to increase tax revenue through international tax reforms that hold multinational corporations responsible for local taxes rather than moving their revenues into tax havens.

Amadou Thierno Diallo , Director of Global Practices, Economic, and Social Infrastructure at the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDBG) , spoke on the rapid growth in development financing and the importance of IsDBG’s role in filling the financial gap that limits SDG achievement. However, he states that it has not been used to its full ability and strategic awareness is needed amongst development practitioners.

Millennium Promise Alliance , made the case for building an evidence-base for action to implement the SDGs. Dependency on financial institutions such as development banks, donors, and partners, must give way to self financing options where countries can cover financing for the SDGs through their national budgets. MPA also called for action by governments to integrate the SDGs into their political commitments.

Our last speaker, Bernard Woods , of the Results Management and Aid Effectiveness Division (SPRA) of the Strategy, Policy and Review Department (SPD) at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) , began by asking, “Where is the money going to come from?” International public finance and private finance holds a very small percentage of the total cash being used to finance in the SDGs, according to data from the UNDP. Woods stated that it is going to come from the countries themselves, by improving tax guidelines as Sachs said, and getting the private sector to invest in development. In light of this, the ADB has implemented a new strategy for the next decade to help finance the SDGs, which includes expanding private sector operations, catalyzing and mobilizing finance for development, and strengthening knowledge services.

Click the button below for full detailed summary of all sessions at this year's ICSD.

Launch of One Million PPE for Frontline Health Workers

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 14:15:55 GMT

On Tuesday, 22nd September, 2020 MPA organized a launching ceremony to raise One million PPE for frontline health workers. The launch, held at Marriott Hotel Accra, forms part of MPA’s COVID-19 interventions in support of the national response pandemic. During the ceremony, MPA unveiled a song by an array of stars in the musical industry to honour all frontline health staff. In attendance were chiefs, officials from government, Ghana Health Service, security services, civil society organizations and the media.

The event was chaired by Nana Appiagyei Dankowoso 1, President, Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In his welcoming address, he expressed that the campaign was a good cause in the national fight against the pandemic by MPA, Ghana and called for support to raise funds to attain its goal.

Millennium Promise Alliance Ghana hosted the event and informed guests that the campaign’s goal is to recognize the risk(s) faced by our health professionals as they provide care to Ghanaians and MPA in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and other partners, has thought it feasible to mobilize some PPE to complement government’s efforts to protect health workers in the combat against COVID-19. In order to attain the goal of the campaign, MPA gave appointment letters to four celebrities in the entertainment sector as Campaign Ambassadors to lead the fund-raising drive.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Board Chair of MPA and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General, in his remarks, praised efforts by the Ghanaian Government under the leadership of President Nana Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the successful fight against the pandemic. He assured the nation of his continuing support for the campaign.

The UNAIDS Country Representative in Ghana, Angela Trenton-Mbonde who was the guest of honour at the event, outlined the commonality between HIV and AIDS and COVID-19 pandemic. She mentioned several efforts made by UN agencies to support various governmental institutions in quelling the incidence of the pandemic in the country. In his closing remarks, the Chairman of the ceremony, Nana Dankowoso 1, told guests about the overwhelming nature of the event by the musical performances by guest artistes and thanked the organizers for the success of the event. He declared his readiness to volunteer to serve as a Campaign Ambassador to the delight of all.

PADEF-EJ: MPA supports Senegal's Ministry of Women in building of 5 midwifery houses and market gardening perimeter in Louga

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 16:34:00 GMT

The Support Project for the Development of Female Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment (PADEF-EJ), under the supervision of the Republic of Senegal's Ministry of Women, Family, Gender and Child Protection and co-financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), aims to contribute to the improvement of the economic and social conditions of women and girls. In fact, as part of its “Infrastructures and Services” component, it built midwife housing and developed market gardening areas in the Louga region (Senegal). These are five (05) dwellings which are registered in the health sub-sector and whose construction works have been completed. Each accommodation has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a toilet and a family space. Thus, before making them available to beneficiaries, the project organized a field mission. This, to proceed with the provisional acceptance of each of them and visit the perimeter of Sague-Sathiel in the municipality of Léona (Louga).

This field mission, which took place from September 9 to 10, 2020 in Louga, was led by the PADEF-EJ monitoring and evaluation manager, Mr. Ismaïla Badji. It is composed of Mr. Fallou Ndiaye, project manager at the National Fund for the Promotion of Female Entrepreneurship (FNPEF), the technical supervision of PADEF-EJ; by Mame Thierno Guèye, administrative and financial manager of PADEF-EJ and Ms. Ndiémé Koba Sonko, monitoring-evaluation assistant of PADEF-EJ. In Louga, the mission was accompanied by Mr. Mahécor Diouf, Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) project manager; Mamadou Cissé, regional director of community development and promotion of equity in Louga; and Abdoulaye Niang, agent at the regional town planning service of Louga.

On the spot, the head of the mission and his delegation went first to the Louga governance for a courtesy visit. Here, they met the Deputy Governor in charge of development, Modou Thiam. They introduced him to the mission and its purpose. The state authority, in turn, welcomed the visit and committed to supporting the project for the benefit of the populations of the region. Then, the mission headed for the Regional Directorate for Community Development and Equity Promotion (DRDCPE) of Louga, located at the said Governance. Here too, the delegation met the director Mamadou Cissé to present the purpose of the mission. The team went to the headquarters of the NGO Millennium Promise Alliance, where they were welcomed by Mahécor Diouf, Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) project manager who is in charge of the implementation of the “Infrastructures and Services” component of PADEF- EJ in the area. Here too, there was a presentation session and a short briefing between the project team and MPA.

Many achievements have seen the light of day thanks to PADEF-EJ

In Léona, the mission team, after meeting the mayor Mamadou Ba and the population to present them the objective of the mission, headed for the health post of the locality to visit and provisionally take delivery of the Midwife accommodation that has been built there, in the presence of the beneficiary.

The councilor of Léona, for his part, expressed a feeling of satisfaction. "I am very happy because, if we have created 5 housing units for the benefit of Midwives here in Louga and come to visit them before their reception, we can only be delighted".

According to Mamadou Ba, this infrastructure has been added to a long list of achievements in all sectors that PADEF-EJ has carried out in his commune.

"It will allow you to have autonomy in work and be close to your family"

After the town of Léona, it is the turn of the Potou health post to host the mission. Received on site by the midwife Hélène Diouf, she proceeded, here too, to the provisional acceptance of the accommodation. Very satisfied, the beneficiary, who has been in service in the post since 2016, maintained that this accommodation came at the right time. Because it will not only bring a certain autonomy in the work but also allow the midwife to be close to her family at all times. Thus, Hélène Diouf warmly thanked PADEF-EJ for everything it does for the benefit of health. In Sague-Sathiel, PADEF-EJ did not only provide accommodation for Midwives. He also created a market gardening perimeter for the grouping of women from the locality and surroundings. This is why, before visiting and provisionally receiving said accommodation which was built just behind the health post, the mission first wanted to meet and discuss with these brave women in order to collect their impressions and comments on the said market gardening perimeter. since the start of its operation.

Boosted production and financial autonomy for women ensured

The mission also visited the market gardening perimeter under the leadership of the MP project manager and the president of the Sague-Sathiel women's group, Ms. Aminata Ba. In this one-hectare field, developed by PADEF-EJ with a drip irrigation system that works with solar energy, the women `` And Jappo Liggeye '' horticulture throughout the year. 'year. They produce all kinds of vegetables during the rainy season as well as in the off-season. This allowed them, according to Ms. Ba, to boost their production and have financial autonomy.

“We are very happy today. Because in the past we spent the whole day under the palaver tree. But today, since the project came, we have all found work, ”suggested the president of the said women's group.

According to him, in this field, the women cultivate Onion, Pepper, Carrot, Tomato, Okra, and other vegetables throughout the year. And at the end of each production, they can harvest dozens or even a hundred bags, which are sold in the local market to meet their needs.

Mrs. Aminata Ba reports that her group includes 300 women today, of whom more than a hundred are active in the field. And the others are waiting for the Potou-Médine track to be completed to facilitate their movement around the market gardening perimeter because they live in the surrounding villages. At the end of this visit, the mission also met the Inter-negoce distribution company in charge of the construction of this track to discuss the state of progress of the work. This is a track of several kilometers and which was also financed by PADEF-EJ within the framework of its “Infrastructures and Services” component. The midwife's accommodation built inside the Ndialakhar Samb health post was also visited and provisionally accepted by the mission as well as that of the Syer health post.

"A very frank collaboration that we would like others to follow"

PADEF-EJ, as part of its achievements in the region, collaborates with the Regional Directorate of Community Development and Promotion of Equity in Louga. A collaboration which has been magnified and given due recognition by the director. "It is a very frank collaboration that we welcome and of which we would also like the other interventions of other sectors to follow their model", underlined Mamadou Cissé. For him, of all the programs and projects that intervene in his area, it is PADEF-EJ that he masters best. Because, he adds, “he involves us in all their missions at regional level”. And this allows him, at his level, to inform the Ministry of Community Development.

These accommodations will "improve the working conditions of midwives as well as the quality of their services"

The regional director of community development and the promotion of equity of Louga, moreover, maintained that these midwife housing will improve the working conditions of the beneficiaries as well as the quality of their services at their level. health post.

"Contribute to improving the economic and social living conditions of women and girls"

As a reminder, PADEF / EJ is financed under a loan agreement between the Government of Senegal and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). Its general objective is to "contribute to improving the economic and social living conditions of women and girls by facilitating access to credit, developing infrastructure and support services for production, value and capacity building ”. Thus, in order to strengthen the achievements of Phase I of the “Millennium Villages” Project and complete the achievement of the MDGs, the Government of Senegal, in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) through the National Fund for Promotion of Female Entrepreneurship (FNPEF) has, within the framework of PADEF / EJ, made available to the “Millennium Villages” Project funding intended for the implementation of activities of the “Infrastructures and Services” component in the sectors of Health, Education, Agriculture, Rural Infrastructure-Energy-Water-Hygiene and Fisheries.

Source: https://www.seneweb.com/news/Societe/padef-ej-le-ministere-de-la-femme-realis_n_328965.html

Millennium Promise Alliance partners with Ghana Health Service to launch paperless health declaration form at Kotoka International Airport

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 16:01:18 GMT

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has partnered with Millennium promise Alliance (MPA) to launch a real-time, electronic version of the health declaration form that is used to obtain passengers’ travel history and detect signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

The system has already been deployed at the Kotoka International Airport with the commencement of flights to the country. MPA developed Mobile and Web Health Declaration Applications to replace the paper-based version that was used prior to the closure of the country’s borders.

The App makes it possible for passengers to conveniently fill up the form; whilst its decision support algorithms and analytics help the Port Health team to speed up decision-making and follow-up. Travelers can access the Health Declaration App on their mobile phones, tablets, or computers through the Ghana Health Service website.

Additionally, all passengers will have their temperatures screened through the MPA Porthealth Thermocheck booths . (cont...)

Millennium Promise Alliance Ghana shared that, “ COVID-19 has ushered in a lot of homegrown ideas and domesticated technological advancements of which I’m grateful to God to have been useful in such a competitive era together with my MPA team. The project has added a boost to Ghana’s preparedness to open its airports for international flights. I am very proud to leverage on our long-standing partnership with the Ghana Health Service to bring this project to life, ”

MPA added that “ due to COVID-19, Technology is being deployed at such a dizzying pace in recent months that it has transformed our world in ways that we least imagined. Coming up with this innovative idea started out to be difficult, if not impossible, and almost certainly up for fierce debate as we have always believed in foreign technology more than ourselves. Nevertheless, we gave it a shot and here we are, purely Ghanaian but of international standards; proudly Ghanaian. ”

This collaboration is part of MPA’s agenda of mobilizing science and cutting-edge technology towards sustainable development and to improve the health and well-being of the population in Ghana.

Millennium Promise Alliance is an International NGO with a vision to eradicate extreme poverty, hunger, and preventable diseases especially in deprived communities. MPA has operated in various countries including Ghana and believes in working with country systems and government agencies to empower the rural poor, promote rapid socio-economic development and accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Ghana, MPA provides technical support for school health screening, community health workers program, rural diagnostic laboratory services, personal protective equipment for front-line health workers among others. MPA appreciates funding support from the Brin Family Foundation and GSK; as well as strategic and policy advisory from the Founder and Board Chair Prof. Jeffrey Sachs .

One Million PPE for Frontline Health Workers Campaign

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 15:25:30 GMT

'1 million PPE for Front Line Health Workers' is an initiative by Millennium Promise Alliance with the goal to reduce COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality among front-line health workers.

Objectives:

1). Supply PPE to 1 million frontline health staff by December 2020

2). Raise 1.5 million Ghana cedis from diverse sources by September 2020

with 1million PPE for Front Line Health Workers Campaign,

…the health of every Front Line Health Worker is our concern

Women Economic Empowerment Webinar (WEEW)

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 17:09:09 GMT

MPA INVITES YOU TO THE WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT WEBINAR AFRICA SERIES (WEEW)

A CALL FOR ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

RATIONALE

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting an unprecedented and significant strain on the global economy and public health systems. It is affecting women in many ways, from concerns for their health and safety and income security, to additional caring responsibilities and increased exposure to domestic violence.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the pandemic has resulted in severe economic and social impacts. Women and particularly young girls are vulnerable to the insecurities the pandemic has caused, and many are now at the risk of being left behind in education, economic opportunities, and health and wellbeing at this crucial stage of their life development. There is the growing concern that the effects of the pandemic could roll back the limited progress made in gender equality and women empowerment.

This webinar will provide an opportunity to discuss the connections between the present pandemic and its looming effect, and how women economic empowerment should be addressed to reduce the COVID-19 shock of the already existing gender inequalities.

SPEAKERS

MODERATORS

Oxfam and Millennium Promise Alliance partner in distribution of improved nutritional packages and COVID-19 pandemic preparedness kits in the Louga Region of Senegal

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 19:29:06 GMT

As part of the implementation of activities in the ARC REPLICA 2020 Project (January to September 2020) in the Louga region of Senegal, Millennium Promise Alliance supports the operational implementation of activities for our partner NGO, OXFAM ; members of the Start Network.

The response consists of distributing cash (scholarships) by means of cash transfer, and carrying out activities for the detection and treatment of malnutrition, education and awareness of nutrition and hygiene. These social operations cover 22,177 vulnerable people in the Louga region, including 15,302 people in the Kébémer and 6,875 people in Linguère. The activities focused initially on the choice of beneficiaries (communes, villages, household) and secondly on the distribution of scholarships for target households and flour for the targeted children and women. The operation took place in two phases in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, in the operational implementation of the activities, sensitization of the communities were initiated regarding social distancing and barrier gestures with the systematic use of masks. Beneficiaries were also distributed and informed on the usage of hydro-alcoholic gel and installations of wash-hand basins were completed at designated distribution points. Two community radio platforms (one in Kébémer and one in Dahra) also covered the activities to increase awareness.

For more information, please watch the video below as well as photos:

Millennium Promise Alliance develops MPA THERMOCHECK with installation at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana to support in COVID-19 screening measures

Tue, 14 Jul 2020 15:43:36 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance has invented, locally designed, developed and donated MPA THERMOCHECK ( an infrared thermometer reader ) to the Kotoka International Airport, Terminal 3, to support the Republic of Ghana in efforts at screening travelers specifically through their airports. According to the Ghana Health Service , as of today there have been over 26,000 cases of COVID-19 with 3,700 cases currently active in the country. Though over 22,000 of the aforementioned cases have recovered or been discharged it remains vital that Ghana as well as all countries during this crisis are able to screen travelers in a thorough and efficient manner to help better manage the pandemic. With this in mind, Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc. and its partners continue to dedicate support to countries in this essential fight against COVID-19 through expertise and innovation. One of these methods of support is through the design and deployment of the MPA THERMOCHECK system.

Please w atch the brief video above for additional details around this project. Photos of its installation can be found below:

Live MPA Webinar: Achieving Inclusive, Equitable, Sustainable and Quality Education for All Post COVID-19

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 14:49:52 GMT

BUILDING STRONGER AND RESILIENT EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS POST COVID-19 LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND

Millennium Promise Alliance invites you to a webinar on the new age of Education.

Join Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Prof. Klaus Leisinger and experts from Center for Sustainable Development Columbia University (CSD), University of Education Winneba, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), OCP, Ministry of Education Ghana and Ministry of Local Government Uganda as we discuss how to achieve inclusive, equitable, sustainable and quality education for all post COVID-19.

Education is a fundamental human right and is indispensable for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, we must continue to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all affected worldwide by the current pandemic.

Though education is frequently managed as a local issue, it often requires stakeholders including global policymakers to work with partners in support of government agencies to provide equitable quality learning opportunities. Our panel of experts will explore these areas of discussion and more.

We now have a choice: accept the online education systems that seek to further widen the gap and leaving the hard-to-reach and the poor out as the status quo or seize this moment to help countries to rebuild their educational system leveraging ICT and energy needs to serve everyone equally. Can that be possible?

During this special webinar, experts will lead us to explore lessons learned in various countries, take a look at what we need to change in this new age and how each of us can cultivate new, bold solutions within our countries and operating sites in order to bridge the educational gap.

The event is free; advance registration is required and can be found by clicking HERE . List of experts and speakers can be found below.

SPEAKERS

Millennium Promise Alliance Ghana - Community Health Workers (CHW) Success Story

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 15:26:40 GMT

1. Development of Operational Guidelines for Community Health Workers and COVID-19 . MPA is working with the Ghana Health Service to develop a national Operational Guideline on the work of CHWs within the context of COVID-19. This will complement other CHW Guidelines and Training Manuals currently in operation.

2. In 2019, MPA partnered with UNAIDS, the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to review the Implementation Guidelines of the CHW programme and ensure stronger linkages of CHWs programme with the UNAIDS 90-90-90 HIV targets and universal health coverage. The meeting also discussed the nature and scope of the CHW Programme, reviewed the National CHW Implementation Guidelines to reflect experiences from the previous phase of implementation as well as current evidence on best practices. About 50 participants attended the meeting. A Technical Working Group (TWG) was constituted at the end of the consultation to finalize the CHW Guidelines and revise the CHW Training Manuals. The TWG held two working sessions as outlined below.

3. Review of CHW Training materials undertaken in third quarter of 2019. A total of 20 separate documents were reviewed, including:

• Three modules of the CHW Facilitators manuals

• Three modules of the CHW Participants manuals

• Three modules of the Job Aids

• The CeTracker User Manual

• Eight booklets of the CHW visit

• The CHW counseling cards

• CHW hand book

4. MPA supported the national and cascade training of health workers for the school health screening exercise. MPA led the training of Trainers Workshop on School Medical Screening for 90 health officers in Kumasi in September, 2019. The Government of Ghana in 2017 launched the School Health Screening for pre-tertiary students across the country with the goal to ensure optimal health, nutrition and wellness of the students and contribute to improved learning outcomes. Since the inception, MPA has been collaborating with the Ghana Health Service and Ghana Education Service to provide health screening for the students.

5. Project Impact Documentary. MPA produced a documentary to share the success story of the CHW Program. Five regions were selected for this exercise thus, Ashanti, Upper East, Northern, Central and Greater Accra regions. The goal was to create an advocacy, storytelling tool that the YEA, GHS and MPA can use to rally support for additional funding. The “success spotlight stores” identified four core angles the CHW program has made an impact: Job satisfaction, Acceptability in the health sector, Community members wellbeing and Closing or filling gaps in access to healthcare. Various stakeholders from national to the household level indicated that the CHW Programme is a game changer to solving lots of health challenges at the community and household levels, thereby enhancing CHPS’ capacity to achieve universal health coverage.

6. The CHW endline evaluation was conducted in November 2018 and completed in 2019. The surveys were conducted within the seven pilot districts, namely Amansie Central, Amansie West, Asokore Mampong, Bosome Freho, Ejura Sekyidumasi, Sekyere Central and Sekyere Kumawu. Data were collected using household-based paperless quantitative survey methodology with questionnaires programmed on Android tablets used by the survey enumerators. Overall, the endline evaluation assessment revealed that the project had taken important strides in the positive direction in terms of developmental gains delivered to the project’s beneficiaries.

7. Partnership with Ghana Red Cross Society (GRSC) . The search for sustainable solutions for the CHW programme led MPA to partner with the Ghana Red Cross Society. An MoU was signed in December, 2019 to strengthen the GRCS’s Community Health Volunteers which has over 60,000 members with presence in all regions of the country. The programme has a strong community-based presence and high sustainability potential. Under the MoU, MPA will support redesign the GNRS health volunteer programme to situate it properly within a “One Health” Context, adapt the national CHW Implementation Guideline and Training Manuals, Build capacity of the community health volunteers and their supervisors, map and link volunteers to the primary health care systems, provide logistics (smartphones, backpacks, and commodities) for service delivery and monitoring.

Kuapa Kokoo Action Plan Narrative – 2020

Fri, 29 May 2020 15:41:03 GMT

A message from Samuel Adimado – Managing Director, Kuapa Kokoo Limited

In this Publication, we explained the company’s overall vision and approach to implementing CFI, highlighted the most important measures it is focusing on, and provided concrete examples of activities on the ground.

HAPPY WORKERS DAY 2020! #SDG8

Fri, 01 May 2020 21:21:52 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance commemorates the people around the world including frontline health workers actively ensuring that we have a #sustainable society.

Please read a spe cial message from our CEO and Founder, Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs , "Today, I celebrate all frontline health workers on the battle against COVID-19 ranging from healthcare and supply chain workers to informal workers. COVID-19 is ultimately linked to climate action, social equity, and sustainable development. We are in this together! Let's adhere strictly to COVID-19 prevention measures and stay safe."

-----

�� #WorkersDay #LabourDay #EssentialWorkers #ThankYou

�� #SDG8 #SDGs #COVID19 #GlobalGoals #MayDay2020

COVID-19: Information and Prevention

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 14:08:40 GMT

On this page, you can find information, guidance and prevention regarding the current outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19)

Q: What is COVID-19?

A: Corona-virus disease 2019 (abbreviated “COVID-19”) is a virus strain, first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, that has only spread in people since December 2019. Health experts are closely monitoring the situation because little is known about this new virus and it has the potential to cause severe illness and pneumonia in some people. The complete clinical picture with regard to COVID-19 is not fully known. Reported illnesses have ranged from very mild (including some with no reported symptoms) to severe, including illness resulting in death.

Q: How does COVID-19 spread and what are the symptoms?

A: COVID-19 is primarily spread through respiratory droplets, which means to become infected, people generally must be within six feet of someone who is contagious and come into contact with these droplets. It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. Symptoms of COVID-19 appear within two to 14 days after exposure and include fever, cough, runny nose and difficulty breathing.

Q: How long does it take for symptoms of the COVID-19 to appear?

A: CDC believes that symptoms of COVID-19 may appear in as few as two days, or as long as 14 days after exposure. To be cautious, many governments are requiring an isolation period of 14 days for people returning from endemic areas

Q: Who is at higher risk?

A: Early information out of China, where COVID-19 started, shows that some people are at higher risk of getting very sick from this illness. This people include o lder adults as well as p eople who have serious chronic medical conditions like h eart disease, d iabetes, and l ung disease.

Q: How is COVID-19 treated?

A: There is currently no FDA approved medication for COVID-19. People infected with this virus should receive supportive care such as rest, fluids and fever control, to help relieve symptoms. For severe cases, treatment should include care to support vital organ functions. Please also contact and consult your personal care physician if you are experiencing symptoms.

Q: Is there a vaccine?

A: Currently, there is no vaccine available. Possible vaccines and specific drug treatments are under investigation.

Q: What measures has MPA put in place for methods of prevention in our projects?

A: View or Download Our Team Guide Below:

Community outreach for screening of Diabetes in the North Tongu District, Volta Region of Ghana

Mon, 02 Mar 2020 23:23:06 GMT

The Joy FM Sugar Project is partnership between the “Joy FM Sugar Project”, Rotary Club of Accra Airport and Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) and working jointly with the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

It was initiated in 2015 with the aim of educating the population into adopting simple lifestyle practices for prevention of diabetes and promotion of healthy living. Key strategy of the project is the campaign that takes diabetes testing to the doorsteps of people and linking those who need care with the appropriate medical facilities.

The overall aim is to accelerate process towards attaining the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the targets on reduction in non-communicable diseases.

In August 2018, about 90 health workers, comprising 30 CHOs/CHNs, and 60 CHWs from 3 districts (Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem-KEEA and Abura-Asibu-Kwamankese-AAK were trained and deployed to provide education and screening for diabetes. Also, in March 2019, MPA in collaboration with the Fanteakwa District Health Directorate provided training for frontline health workers to Strengthen capacity of the frontline health workers to undertake community mobilization, diabetes education and screening. In all 30 frontline health workers mainly Community Health Officers (CHOs) and 7 District Health staff to act as supervisors received the training. In all 1815 clients were screened.

This year, 2020 the Millennium Promise and the Sugar Project partners took the community outreach program to the North Tongu District in Volta Region of Ghana. Three Sub Districts namely Mepe, Juapong and Battor comprises 28 communities are currently receiving diabetes education and free screening

The objectives of this year’s Sugar Project outreach were to:

Sensitize and educate the North Tongu Communities on diabetes prevention and management.
Educate community members to adopting simple lifestyle practices such as regular intake of water, carefully followed-planned meals, management of carbohydrates in diet, mealtime consistency and exercise; for prevention of diabetes and healthy living.
Offer free diabetes screening to the people of Battor and the entire selected Communities.
Strengthen community-based strategic information systems for diabetes prevention and management with the introduction of real-time e-health systems that allows, among others, strong referrals.
Strengthen the capacity of frontline health workers to undertake community mobilization, diabetes education and screening.

Day 1: Battor

North Tongu District in Volta Region of Ghana

Day 2: Juapong Market
North Tongu District in Volta Region of Ghana

Day 3 and 4 – Nepe
North Tongu District in Volta Region of Ghana

SDGs Promise Japan Youth Visit Millennium Promise Alliance in Bonsaaso, Ghana

Sun, 01 Mar 2020 18:18:53 GMT

The government of Japan is among numerous donors that provided financing to the Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) for interventions and development of the Bonsaaso Millennium Cluster of villages. These interventions began from 2006 to 2015 as an experiment to test the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) especially in rural Africa. In the Bonsaaso area, 30 communities with total population of 30,000 benefited from the project. MPA at that time worked with the local communities and District Assembly and various government agencies for their participation and ownership in all the interventions.

SDGs Promise Japan Youth (SPJ Youth) , who are mainly Japanese university students occasionally pay visits to the Bonsaaso Millennium Villages in the Amansie West/South District to learn about the gains of the project. The recent visit was made between 21st to 24th February 2020.

The SPJ Youth visited some of the projects sites which have been undertaken by Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA). They wanted to know how these projects are still benefiting citizenry and also learn about commerce in the locality.

Visit to Takorase small town water system: Takorase is among five communities in the area that benefitted from small town water projects. The community Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) committee, which MPA helped to establish are still intact. The committee at Takorase disclosed that they still have about Ghc15,000, which they had generated from water tariffs. This project was completed in 2010 and the community has maintained it till date on their own.

Visit to Market and shops: In the quest to eradicate poverty Millennium Promise assisted many traders in the area especially women. Many women were given training and assisted to get credit from the bank to either start or expand their trades. Many women engaged in trading in various goods but the students visited only four women. These included a small shop owner, food vendor (Porridge seller), assorted vegetables seller and a hair dresser. Our interview with these women showed that they save between Ghc20 to Ghc50 a day. This excludes their daily expenditure. The savings made by these women go into supporting their children’s’ education and building houses.

Meeting with young men engaged in commercial motorcycle transport (Okada): There are good number of young men who are involved in this trade. They make between Ghc30 to Ghc60 net saving daily. Most of these young men are building their own houses from this job.

Visit to Datano DA Primary and JHS: Housing was a critical challenge for the people in the Bonsaaso Cluster especially teachers and nurses who were posted to that area. Millennium Promise built staff bungalows for teachers and nurses in some of the communities. These facilities are still being well maintained by the users and the communities.

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) established computer laboratories in some schools including Datano. The Member of Parliament has recently replaced the old and broken-down computers MPA supplied earlier.

Visit to Datano CHPS Compound (Health Facility): The Datano CHPS Compound was one out seven, which MPA helped to build, furnish and equip. These CHPS Compounds are staffed by government and being well managed by the Ghana Health Service (GHS). The seed money MPA provided to stock the facilities with medicines are still intact. The CHPS Compounds are always stocked with the needed medicines.

Visit to Cocoa Farm: Cocoa is the main cash crop and economic backbone in the Bonsaaso Cluster. MPA assisted numerous farmers (both male and female) to either establish new cocoa farms or maintain the existing ones for higher yields. The cocoa farm, which the students visited was one of the farms that has been freshly established by the farmer at inception of MPA. The farmer yields 14 bags of cocoa from every 1.5acre farm. He owns a total of 21acres of cocoa farm. Out of his earnings from cocoa, the farmer has successfully educated all his four children (two of which have completed the University and are gainfully employed. One is a practicing nurse and the last one is still in nursing school). This farmer has also built his own house through his earnings.

Millennium Promise Alliance signs MoU with The University of Education, Winneba to co-host UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network in Ghana and develop a curriculum On #SDGs

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 17:13:44 GMT

According to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, the partnership will be “...one of the major ways we will get ourselves to globally exchange ideas, exchange research, professionals and others.”

Prof. Afful Broni explained that the University is committed to making sure that the 17 SDG goals are achieved by the year 2030 which is also in line with government’s plan of achieving education for all by 2030.

“UEW must continue with their expert ideas and brilliant way of doing things like the training of teachers and they must also come out with quality material that is required to ensure that we translate this SDG’s into curriculum that is trainable, that we can be used to teach people from the kindergarten to the university level and we expect nothing than their expert ideas,”

“Ghana has been recognized as a good destination for the development of SDG into a curriculum and once charity begins at home, obviously we are likely to train and teach people within the country to understand the intricacies of the SDG and take steps to implement the SDG,”

MPA and UEW collaboration

In 2019, the Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN) in partnership with Pontifical Academy of Sciences hosted it’s fourth annual Vatican Youth Symposium in Vatican City.

Millennium Promise Alliance in partnership with the University of Education was selected to represent Ghana together with Morocco and Turkey for the SDSN Youth Global Schools Program pilot to create SDG aligned curriculums at the national level.

As part of the preparations to launch the SDSN, a high profile national dialogue on SDGs will be organized with strong participation of government representatives, universities, research institutions, civil society organization, international organizations interested to be members of SDSN.

Following the launch of Sustainable Development Solution Network, a governing council will be established to provide visibility, intellectual leadership, and stimulate interest in the activities of SDSN.

Millennium Promise Alliance and Red Cross Sign MOU To Train, Equip, and Deploy 15,000 Community Health Workers in the Next 5 Years

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 16:17:26 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) and the Ghana Red Cross Society, entered into a partnership to deploy 15,000 Community Health Workers (CHWs) across the country over the next five years.

This nation-wide Community-based holistic health Volunteer outreach program is dubbed 1-Health (One Health) Ghana Campaign. It seeks to deepen primary health care delivery to all, especially, in hard-to-reach Ghanaian communities.

Under this initiative, the capacities of 15,000 frontline volunteers from the Ghana Red Cross Society will be built by MPA following which they will be equipped with smart phones and deployed across the country to deliver door-to-door health care service to the people.

The Secretary General, Ghana Red Cross Society, Mr. Samuel Kofi Addo, appending his signature on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) document at an event held at the offices of the MPA, told journalists that he is thrilled to get the deal through since it will afford them the opportunity to address emergency situations wherever there are vulnerabilities.

“It’s an exciting day for us as Ghana Red Cross Society to partner with the Millennium Promise Alliance to see how we can come together to build synergies to enable us deal with the vulnerable in society whenever there is an emergency situation,” he noted.

One initiative of the Ghana Red Cross Society that is having a major impact on the various communities they are serving, especially, in the Upper East and Northern Regions, is the Mother Club.

Under this program, the Ghana Red Cross Society builds on the capacities of mothers to deal with neonatal, maternal and child health issues in the communities.

The mothers move from house to house to interact with people, especially, pregnant women by advising them to go for antenatal services even after delivery.

They also ensure that pregnant women deliver at the CHPs compounds when they are due for delivery. The most interesting aspect of this initiative is the deployment of tricycle ambulances to take the pregnant women to the CHPs compounds when they are due for delivery.

However, they lack data in all their doings, a situation which, according to Mr. Addo, is affecting decision making.

“So, with this MoU, we are going to build the capacities of the mothers in terms of collecting data to feed those of us at the headquarters to make informed decisions,” he noted.

“The impact of CHWs can no longer be taken faith, hence, rigorous effectiveness and cost-effectiveness systems are needed to engage them. Another key important component of health care delivery is accurate, timely and reliable data. Such data has been difficult to obtain, especially, at the community level. The partnership presents an opportunity to train, equip, deploy and supervise the current corps of Red Cross Volunteers and link them more strongly to the primary health care system in a sustainable manner. Indeed, from the early years of primary health care, community-based health workers and volunteers have played a key role in satisfying the need and demand for essential health services,”

Quoting the 2019 Holistic Assessment of Ghana’s Health Sector to support his claim, Community-based intervention has contributed to 33% of Family Planning acceptance rate and 51% EPI coverage.

“There are several other areas of health care delivery where Community-based frontline health workers are instrumental in their achievements. We need to recognize this reality and give the support that is required to further improve our health care delivery keeping in mind the targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals”

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) supported the first phase of Ghana's nationwide Community Health Workers Program with the aim of strengthening the Community-based Health Services (CHPS) System.

Millennium Promise Alliance Donates 20 Tablets in Guinea

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 18:10:22 GMT

MPA is providing technical assistance to the Guinea-Islamic Development Bank Sustainable Villages Project in Banko, a town and sub-prefecture in the Dabola Prefecture in the Faranah Region of Guinea.

The project uses tablets for health and education data collection to monitor project performance. During a recent meeting between MPA and the Project Management Unit, it was reported that the previous tablets donated to the project have malfunctioned, hence the project had suspended the real-time data collection. The Executive Director of MPA therefore donated new tablets to enable the project to resume the data collection.

MPA and Partners embark on Nationwide Pre-School Medical Screening in Ghana

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 18:04:51 GMT

The Ghana Health Service in collaboration with Ghana Education service and Millennium Promise embarked on nationwide medical screening of preschool children in Ghana which started 10th September 2019.

This is part of on-going implementation of school based services and health and nutrition screening with aim of ensuring optimal health, nutrition and wellness of all pre-tertiary pupils and students and contribute to learning outcomes.

It is also a flagship goal in which Millennium Promise seeks to implement for better attainment of sustainable development goal three which says Good health and well-being.

This is in recognition that the common conditions of ill health among school children can be dealt with effectively, simply and cheaply through school health and nutrition programs that include school based health and nutrition services, along with supportive school policies, safe water and sanitation and skills based health education including hygiene.

Millennium Promise has been collaborated with Ghana Health Service since 2017 for health screening for all first years students in second cycle institutions, about 300,000 students reached during the 2017-2018 academic year. Following the successful implementation of the screening process for the Senior High School Students, the process of screening pre-school pupils was initiated in 2018 the intervention is been scaled up this year and at the beginning of the new academic year.

The medical screening exercise is targeting all pupils at the point of entry into Kindergarten 1 or 2 or Primary 1 and they are mandated to undergo this medical screening exercise as part of admission process.

The screening activities is been done by trained health workers using a robust screening tool developed by Millennium Promise Alliance which include history taking, physical examination teeth, assessments of Nutritional status, speech, hearing among others.

Post- screening activities will include referral of eligible children to be appropriately referred for further investigation and management assess progress following referral, support to implement recommendations for referred children.

Millennium Promise Alliance and Partners Take Action for the Planet and the Environment

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 18:09:19 GMT

With marine pollution affecting most of the Accra shoreline, a clean up exercise was held to mitigate this at the Borla beach in Accra. The exercise was done on Saturday, 16th November 2019 by Millennium Promise Alliance together with Reset Global People and its partners.

Borla beach is situated right behind the iconic Independence Square of Ghana. Marine pollution, especially with plastics, has been seen as a major threat to our oceans. According to the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana, there would be more rubbish than fishes in the sea by 2050 if action is not taken.

Millennium Promise Alliance is therefore delighted to share in efforts to keep the beach clean and save marine life in the country. This goes a long way in attaining SDG goal 14 which encourages actions that promote the welfare of life below water.

Millennium Promise Alliance and Partners Take Action on Period Poverty

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 15:57:27 GMT

On Thursday, 14th November 2019, an outreach was made to two communities in the Ningo-Prampram area. The team visited the basic schools in Ahwiam and New Ningo in the Greater Accra Region to donate sanitary pads for use by female students in these communities.

Period poverty has been described as the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, hand washing facilities, and, or, waste management.

With UNESCO projecting that 1 in 10 female students in Africa miss school because of period poverty, this outreach was a step in the right direction.

In all the schools visited, the pupils were happy they have been given these pads noting that a lack of access to these materials was a factor that contributed significantly to female absenteeism.

By undertaking this outreach MPA aims to not only keep the girl child in school but also help achieve SDG Goals 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) and 4(Quality Education).

MPA believes that ending period poverty by 2030 is possible, period!"

Millennium Promise Alliance to partner with Youth Advocates Ghana (YAG)

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 15:26:03 GMT

On 5th November, 2019, Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) partnered with Youth Advocate Ghana (YAG) as part of its effort to involve and activate young people to contribute towards the achievement of the SDGs. This is aimed at reaching, educating and equipping the youth with the SDGs.

The partnership in activating the youth seek to create awareness, helping the youth understand their role in achieving the 2030 Agenda and inspiring them to take action towards creating a sustainable future for all. The event was held at the MPA office premises with MPA staff members, YAG team and media from UTV and TVAfrica in attendance.

At the signing of the MoU, Mr. Ametepey (Executive Director, YAG) mentioned that YAG is a national youth-led organisation that among other things uses the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint in all its efforts towards achieving the SDGs by 2030. Also, YAG is working to ensure the voice of the youth is heard in the implementation of the SDGs. YAG has done this through platforms like the annual African Youth SDGs Summit that was launched in 2017 with the next one planned for 2020, which will be the 3rd and will coincide with the 5 year milestone of the SDGs. In partnering with MPA, YAG is looking forward to fulfilling goal 17 which calls for partnerships for the goals.

MPA, Chief Nathaniel Ebo Nsarko mentioned that since the inception of MPA, it has walked into empty spaces and churned out several initiatives that better the lives of people in Africa’s hard-to-reach communities. He said MPA has worked in over 20 countries, all in its bid to make life better for everyone, especially the poor.

Training of Circuit Supervisors for Mobile School Report Cards

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 15:13:23 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance entered into partnership with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to scale up the mobile School Report Card (mSRC) to cover all basic schools in the country. The mSRC provides a digitized end-to-end process for collecting real time data concerning pupils, teachers, resources and overall management at the school level. It aims to help generate reliable, quick and up-to-date data on key educational indicators at individual school levels for better planning and decision making. This is to help improve the teaching and learning process in the Basic Schools in Ghana.

As part of promoting paperless system of record keeping, Ghana Education Service and Millennium Promise Alliance begins the mobile school report card application training for circuit supervisors.

On the 4th of November 2019, the 24 participants were hosted at the Millennium Promise Alliance Office at Manso Nkwanta in the Amansie West District for intensive workshop on how to use the MSRC application.

The main objective of the training is to equip Circuit Supervisors and headteachers in the two Districts with the requisite knowledge and skills to provide further training to other District Officers in the usage of the Ghana Education Service-Mobile School Report Card (mSRC) System.

The workshop seeks-to:

Introduce education officers including circuit supervisors from the Amansie West and South Districts on the concept and implementation of mSRC
Test the functionality of the improved dashboard
Test the compatibility of the mSRC application on tablets supplied by MPA
Ensure that all users of mSRC understand their roles and responsibilities
Strategize for the upcoming headteachers training
As ongoing training , the District Director of Education in Amansie West, Mr. Kwabena Owusu Emphasised that, this application is like the Gods eye, it looks effective since it can record all the vital information such as, Teachers attendance, performance rating, teacher’s qualification and many other features for a click of a button.

Hubert Amendzi of Amansie south district with the AD stats and planning disclosed that the mobile school report cards are very easy to use, the information is reliable due to the inbuilt systems.

There are more to come since Ghana is aimed at diverting into electronic systems of collecting and keeping data.

Wisconsin University Students Visit MPA Ghana

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 20:06:35 GMT

On the 31st of October 2019, MPA hosted a team of young students from Wisconsin University together with the school’s Head of Department of Development and Environmental Studies at our office in East Legon-Accra.

The team who came on a study tour at MPA was taken through social interventions and innovative concepts MPA has introduced since its inception in 2005. These include the introduction of Telemedicine, Farmers’ Field School, Community Health Workers, Community Education Workers, implementation of the then Millenium Development Goals(MDGs) interventions and the current Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) interventions.

The rationale was to share practical developmental steps and lessons with these students to aid the practicality of their studies.

The Executive Director of MPA, Chief Nathaniel Ebo Nsarko, made the visiting delegation aware that “as development agents, MPA looks into addressing developmental challenges by walking into empty spaces. We classify the challenges, particularly those faced by people living in hard-to-reach communities, and devise solutions to contribute to a better life for as many of these people as possible in our operational jurisdiction. This we execute without giving such social struggles any terminological connotation and we always remain loyal to traditional and local knowledge. We see these as fundamental coordinates of our compass as defined by human rights, cultural norms, social justice, equity and equality. These aforementioned factors, together with solidarity, happens to be a key reference point against which our interventions are measured. In that sense, we actively involve the people in the whole process which gives rise to a sense of ownership, leadership, and continuity leading to sustainability. Consequently, we are guided by a constant process of critical self-reflections about what we do and how we do it – and the purposes and motivations driving us in our engagements in all our interventions”.

Audiovisual reports on some of the activities were played for the students and Senior Program Officers from MPA took turns to share their programs with the team and responded to their questions accordingly.

The engagement inspired the visiting team to want to get involved in the action towards the achievement of the SDGs.

SDG Connect Inter-Halls Quiz Competition at the University of Ghana

Wed, 06 Nov 2019 16:20:40 GMT

As part of the launch of the SDG Connect program, a quiz competition was held at the University of Ghana to sensitize students on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as engage them in what they can do in achieving these goals by 2030.

The program was a partnership between Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) and the Jean Nelson Aka Hall of the University of Ghana as part of the latter’s Hall Week celebration activities.

After a short introduction to the event by actor Bill Asamoah, who is a member of MPA’s Celebs4SDGs initiative, the ground was set rolling.

Participants were quizzed on their knowledge of the SDGs. This was not limited to just rote memorization of the seventeen (17) global goals but they were also questioned on how these can be achieved.

The representatives of the various halls gave their opinions on issues including how to involve the youth in the attainment of the SDGs.

To this, the students suggested creating more avenues for partners working on the SDGs, such as MPA, to interact with students and also have student seminars on the SDGs.

The halls that competed for the ultimate prize of GHS 3000 plus other mouthwatering items had three representatives each. They were drawn from Jean Nelson Aka Hall, Kwapong Hall, Commonwealth Hall, Elisabeth Sey, Legon, and Hilla Limann Hall.

After the proceedings of a gruelling night, Jean Nelson and Kwapong Halls were adjudged joint winners for the night after tieing almost in all the rounds of the competition.

Jean Nelson Hall was represented by Naziru Nuru, Akatteh Eric and Racheal Amoh-Nyampong with Kwapong Hall having Elikem Asafo, Nii Noi Omaboe and Richeal Naa Abena Aryeh as their representatives.

In all, the judges were impressed with the general output by the students and their knowledge on the sustainable development goals as each hall scored appreciable marks in the rounds.

On the part of the students, they were elated at the opportunity to learn about the SDGs. Also, having the opportunity to add their voice to its attainment with the icing on the cake being getting rewarded for doing this was worth their while.

Launch of the SDGConnect Campaign

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 21:10:03 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance's 'Celebrities 4 SDGs' launched the SDGConnect campaign on Sunday, 20th October, 2019 at the University of Ghana, Legon – Jean Nelson Hall.

SDGConnect is a flagship program that creates a platform to engage the youth on the SDG discourse.

The students had the opportunity to engage celebrities and resource persons on the SDGs through music and other stage performances.

Take the MY WORLD United Nations Global Survey For A Better World

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:17:47 GMT

Go to https://igdsurvey.org/ and take the MYWORLD Survey. The United Nations wants to hear from you!

Cast your vote on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Climate Chance Summit - Africa 2019 (Accra, Ghana)

Fri, 18 Oct 2019 13:43:41 GMT

On Thursday, 17th October, 2019, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo joined former President John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor and thousands of participants present at the 2nd Climate Chance Summit in Accra, where he called on all Africans to support and join in the fight against climate change. He addressed that it is imperative that we join the cause, as enshrined in the SDGs, to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainable forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss.

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) delivers 800 smartphones to Ghana Education Service (GES)

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 19:41:31 GMT

The phones will support the development of guidelines for the use of mobile handheld devices and the scale-up of the mobile School Report Card (mSRC)

The Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) has donated 800 smartphones to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to support the development of guidelines for the use of mobile handheld devices and the scale-up of mobile School Report Card (mSRC). This is in fulfillment of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two in April this year. MPA Ghana shared that Millennium Promise has a global track record of leveraging Information Communication Technology (ICT) for the key areas of development, among whom were education, agriculture and health.

It had since 2017/2018 academic year supported the annual medical screening of pre-tertiary students and so far, over 6,000 tablets with purpose-built software were provided for that purpose. Specifically for this partnership, MPA recognizes the centrality of education to sustainable development and as many as are aware, SDG 4 seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. MPA’s support for Ghana’s ICT Policy for education is intended to make sure ICT integration for excellence and equity in education.

National SDGs Dashboard & Data Visualization Workshop with Esri

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 18:44:47 GMT

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) in collaboration with ESRI organized a National Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) brainstorming workshop

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) in collaboration with ESRI (Redlands, California, United States), organised a National Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Dashboard and Data Visualization brainstorming workshop to bring together all stakeholders of the SDG Implementation framework to deliberate on leveraging on technology to improve SDG data visualization systems in Ghana.

The National SDG Dashboard and Data Visualization system is a part of the key projects of MPA under its national SDG initiatives. The collaboration with ESRI was to leverage on ESRI’s leading innovation in GIS mapping and data analysis systems to develop Ghana’s SDG Dashboard and Data Visualization System.

The brainstorming workshop with ESRI saw many stakeholders and representations from the government institutions; Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, National Development Planning Commission, SDG Advisory Unit, Ghana Statistical Service, Kuapa Kokoo Ltd, Ghana CSOs Platform on SDGs, Graduate Students Association of Ghana and All African Students Union.

Over 50 participants attended the workshop and together made contributions to feed in the plan to visualize SDG Data systems in Ghana.

Millennium Promise welcomes new interns from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland

Wed, 15 May 2019 16:17:07 GMT

As part of its continuing efforts to reduce extreme poverty using innovative technologies and methods, Millennium Promise has had a research driven approach to achieving the SDGs, from the start.

In fact, research has always been a major part of Millennium Promise’s DNA given its affiliations with the Earth Institute (EI) as well as the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) at Columbia University.

Over the past years, MP has supported a multitude of research projects by opening up its sites to testing of new practices that would improve the living conditions of populations.

James Mulligan, Ana-Maria Murphy-Teixidor and Emily Wolfteich, our new interns at MP, all three Master’s students at Trinity College of Dublin, are part of that long tradition of MP to promote Sustainable Development oriented research and collaboration with researchers from various backgrounds.

Indeed, James Mulligan is a first year Master's student in Development Practice (MDP) at Trinity College, Dublin and University College Dublin. He is also a 2010 graduate of the University of Limerick, where he studied Physical Education (PE) and Geography. James has also traveled to forty countries on six continents and have worked and volunteered in several rural and urban settings in both developed and developing countries.

Ana-Maria, is a Master’s student in Development Practice at Trinity College as well. Prior to that, she has double majored in Biology and International Relations with a focus on health and the environment for her Bachelor degree. Ana-Maria has conducted researches and pursued several internships that have allowed her to work with well-established organizations inside and outside the USA, ultimately earning experience on different subjects regarding the implementation of environmental science within the world of environmental advocacy as well as the use of scientific research to create and implement in government issued human health criteria documents surrounding recreational water hazards in different states. This understanding of recreational water and health formed the basis for her interest in pursuing research in drinking water systems which she hopes to continue at Millennium Promise.

Emily Wolfteich, is a master's student in the field of international practical development at Trinity College Dublin and University of Dublin in Ireland like her fellows. She is originally from Washington, DC where she was doing her degree at William & Mary University. Emily has traveled and work in different parts of the world including Paris, France where she worked as an intern for health associations, and the realm of Eswatini, Swaziland where she was a Peace Corps volunteer.

James, Ana-Maria and Emily’s research subjects will be respectively looking at the influence of farming practices on food and nutrition security, family planning as well as Water quality assessment & Water quality education surrounding Iron Contamination in our Millennium Village of Potou where they’re currently conducting their respective studies.

Millennium Promise to sensitize communities around the region of Louga, Senegal, on good hygiene behaviours

Wed, 15 May 2019 16:11:42 GMT

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The right to health and well-being is a fundamental right. This is the main motivation for the series of social mobilizations organized as part of the health component of our Millennium Villages Project in Potou.

From May 7th to May 14th 2018, a team from our Millenium Villages project, headed by Mr. Djiby Sy, in charge of infrastructure (Water, sanitation, hygiene), traveled the villages of Longhor, Thiaréne, Ndiamb Fall, Ndialégne and Taré in the region of Louga in Senegal with the mission of sensitizing communities on good hygiene behaviors, ultimately aiming at reducing diarrheal diseases and cases of malnutrition in these areas.

The objectives of these social mobilizations are:

• Sensitize communities, especially mothers and children on the risks associated with the use of unsafe water;

• Raise awareness of the importance of handwashing at key moments, before eating for example;

• To allow households to master the chain of water purification;

• To help communities assimilate good hygiene behaviors.

The operation, covered by the local Radio of Léona, raised the awareness of nearly 300 people who also benefited from donations of sanitary products such as bottles of liquid soap, handwashing devices, bottles of chlorine and Aquatabs tablets to purify water.

In order to perpetuate awareness raising, women's groups will continue to regularly visit households to ensure that good practices are maintained.

Ghana to Recruit 20,000 Health Workers

Wed, 15 May 2019 16:08:20 GMT

The Inquisitor – Yea To Recruit 20,000 Health Workers

The youth Employment Agency (YEA) has announced its readiness in rolling out its numerous modules in February, 2016 to reduce the rate of unemployment among the youth in the country.

To begin with, the agency is expected to recruit over 20,000 young people under its youth in Health Module to train and equip them as community Health Workers.

This would be followed with subsequent recruitments in the Youth Security, Youth in coastal sanitation, Youth in Agriculture and Youth in Afforestation, among others.

The initiative, according to the agency, is to augment the services being provided by health professionals in the various health institutions across the country, especially those in the rural and deprived communities.

At Yesterday’s Media Encounter…Mahama Talks Plain Bold

President John Dramani Mahama yesterday in a plain and bold way poured his heart out over the manner he has been vilified for nothing.
At a meeting with a section of the press at eh Flag Staff House in Accra, the president gave answers in his usual calm demeanor but he was overly and brutally frank to the amazement of the journalists present.

Touching on the issue of corruption which the opposition is cashing on, President Mahama made a firm promise to continue with the fight against corruption. According to him, investigation bodies are working on several cases and that it was important to allow the law to work.

Free NHIS Elderly Hits Northern Sector

The ongoing nationwide registration of the aged onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has hit the northern sector of the country, as the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has started the registration of the elderly above 65 years onto the scheme.

The exercise which will see the registration of the aged in the three northern regions namely, Northern, Upper East and Upper West, will cover over 1,500 aged people.

This came to light when the sector minister, Nana Oye Lithur launched the exercise as part of her three-day tour to the three regions.
Speaking at the program me, the Gender Minister said the exercise is a demonstration of the continuous resolve as a Government to ensure that the elderly in the society are well taken care of.

“Our coming here today is a continuation of the Government’s numerous interventions for the welfare of the elderly who spent their youthful years to build this nation. Today we shall make presentations to our mothers and fathers and register them free of charge onto NHIS so that they can access free healthcare”.

Gov’t Clears GH₵3.8bn Statutory Debt

The government has settled about GH₵3.8 billion statutory payments as of the end of the fiscal year December 31, last year. The payments, the first time in many years, are in line with the Government Public Expenditure Management and Arrears Clearance program me as indicated in the 2015 Budget and Economic Policy of the government.

Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, said as a result of the budget and arrears clearance plan, various payments had been made to four institutions.\

The District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) had GH₵1.5 billion while the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GET Fund) had about GH₵981 million, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) received about GH₵967 million while the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) go tGH₵315 million.

Fast-tracking development: A Ugandan village’s experience

Wed, 15 May 2019 16:01:41 GMT

As you climb up the winding reddish-coloured gravel road to Ruhiira - past endless dense plantations of matoke bananas - it can feel at first sight as if it is a world largely unchanged from when I was first working in Uganda close to 50 years ago.

Bananas were a staple then - for family consumption and as a mainstay of the local economy - and they still are today.

But the 50,000 or so people who live in this hilly district of small trading centres and scattered homesteads have been part of a high-profile aid initiative over the past nine years.

It is one of the locations across Africa chosen by the US economist Jeffrey Sachs to establish Millennium Villages - intended to be a model for accelerating the end of global poverty.

The Millennium Villages concept has been backed by the United Nations, preparing a string of summits this year as the world marks a transition from the Millennium Development Goals to broader and more ambitious Sustainable Development Goals.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, says the Millennium Villages are "showcasing how effective an integrated strategy for education, health care, agriculture and small business can be".

It is when you reach the ridge where Ruhiira's main trading centre has developed that you get a sense of how the area is changing.

Clustered around a crossroads, there are now several small grocery stores, shops selling medicines, hardware stores and eating places. There is a bar with a well-used billiards table on the veranda.

There are shops where you can draw money with a mobile phone. And there is a co-operative bank with customers queuing up for loans but, for now, with all too little capital to meet the demand.

There was scarcely any electricity in this area a few years ago. Then solar power started to make an appearance and now the grid is extending into the area too.

A large water tank at the Ruhiira trading centre - fed by piped water - shows progress, too, in the critical area of providing more people with access to clean and safe water.

Mr Sachs said that at the peak, the Ruhiira project was investing around $60 (£40) per person per year on health, education, water, snitation, agriculture etc.

Ruhiira in numbers:

Proportion of population living on less than $1 a day down from 58% to 10% from 2006-2011

Improved access to clean water rose from 8% to 42%

Proportion of births attended by skilled health workers up from 8.5% to 79%

Proportion of pupils who complete primary school has risen from 30% to 80%.

(Source: Millennium Village project)

Life in a town called Mongo

The funding is due to drop down to zero by the end of this year. But Mr Sachs believes even modest resources, if very well directed, can make a "huge" difference.

But the Ugandan government is stepping up its spending in the area, with the help of some funding from Islamic Development Bank and they are negotiating with other agencies.

Some people say they have seen far-reaching change in their lives during the period of the Millennium Village project.

Take Robert Nkunda, a 35-year-old farmer. He has been able to build a more substantial home and has wooden sheds for his livestock. In the fields around he grows maize, bananas, coffee and beans. But he could have felt that he had no future in this part of Uganda.

"My father died when I was still very young," he says. "We didn't have enough land. Only a plot where we lived.

video ICI

"That is the reason I didn't go far in education. But I worked hard to buy this land where I am farming."

He hopes his children won't forget the land.

In the past many children used to drop out of primary school - girls, in particular.

Nyakamuri primary school packs 580 children into its single storey classrooms - one of which is now a solar-powered computer room.

The head teacher, Florence Kakiiza, describes the everyday challenges her pupils face:

"Most of them have to walk long distances," she says. "They don't have light to do homework and most don't have enough food at home.

"It is still a struggle but we are moving a bit on education… nearly every child is going to school."

Ms Kakiiza says one of the biggest challenges in education now is to see more girls in impoverished rural areas like this going to - and staying in - secondary school.

"Most rural girls still drop out of secondary schools," she says. "They get married when they are very young. They have many children from as early as 14."

The Community Health Workers who now provide a "front line" of health care across the Millennium Village area include family planning in the advice they give to villagers as they do their rounds - on bicycles.

But where they appear to have had most success is in helping in the effort to bring down once notoriously high levels of child and maternal mortality.

They have modern technology on hand for this - carrying smartphones with a special app to feed in data when they visit a pregnant mother or a newborn infant.

The Ugandan government has been investing about $8 per person in the health sector of the country, says David Siriri, a development expert working for the government.

"We came with a proposal that we invest at least $30... If the government mobilised its resources and prioritised it well that money can be got".

He said one thing already translated into policy at the national level is that the government is willing to pay more to doctors in rural, hard-to-reach areas.

This helps to keep them working there, and is already happening and paying dividends in Ruhiira, he added.

Critics of the Millennium Villages maintain they have achieved little in narrowing deeply rooted inequality, which is often exacerbated by the amount of land people have.

Project officials argue that they are showing the way to reducing inequality - and that progress is as much about changing mindsets as it is about aid.

The Millennium Voice radio station in Ruhiira airs villagers' concerns and offers advice and help.

VIDEO ICI

The Millennium Village projects have provoked much debate. They will clearly prove their value by whether their achievements are sustained and shared by everyone - and are taken up elsewhere.

Stakeholders urge GES to post trained teachers rural areas

Wed, 15 May 2019 15:46:08 GMT

Stakeholders in education have called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to post more trained teachers to operational areas of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority Millennium Villages Project (SADA-MVP).

They made the call at separate fora organized at Fumbisi in the Builsa South District and Walewale in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region.

The fora, organized by the SADA-MVP in collaboration with the two district assemblies, were aimed at discussing progress made so far by the project in the two districts.

The SADA-MVP started in 2012 and is being implemented in 35 communities in Builsa South District in the Upper East Region, West Mamprusi and Mamprugu Mauduri districts in the Northern Region where it is intervening in the areas of education, health, agribusiness, and infrastructure.

The stakeholders expressed regret at the small numbers of trained teachers in the 20 clusters school in the operational areas.

They said the few trained teachers posted to the area also exhibited absenteeism and lateness to school and that was affecting the quality of teaching and learning.

Whilst commending the SADA-MVP for facilitating the recruitment of untrained teachers popularly called pupils teachers to fill in the gaps created by the inadequate number of trained teachers, it was suggested that as part of the measures to address the phenomenon, there was the urgent need for the GES to embark upon a decongestion exercise of teachers in the district capitals of Fumbisi and Walewale and to redeploy them to the deprived schools in the rest of the district including the SADA-MVP operational areas.

Mr Francis Avonsige, the Coordinator of SADA-MVP in charge of Education, mentioned that through the monitoring activities of the Project in collaboration with the district offices of GES in Walewale and Fumbisi, it had become clear that reading was still a major challenge among pupils in the schools being supported by the Project.

“Primary three pupils cannot even recognize alphabets. Reading makes the child to understand what is happening in the classroom and outside”, he said.

SADA-MVP has facilitated the construction and renovation of Teacher accommodation and yet teachers prefer staying at Fumbisi and Sandema and Walewale and attending school to teach, he added.

He appealed to the District Directors of Education, Parent/Teacher Associations and School Management Committee to play their roles very well to help address the canker of teacher absenteeism which was affecting the performance of the children,

He gave the assurance that the project would by September this year purchase 2,000 dual desks for kindergarten pupils in the 20 schools being supported by SADA-MVP.

There are also plans to support these schools with Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs) such as exercise books, English, Mathematics and Science books.

Mr David Sumbo, the Team Leader of SADA-MVP, reiterated the need for the stakeholders to map out pragmatic strategies to sustain the project when it ends in December 2016.

Finding safe water in Rwanda A12

Wed, 15 May 2019 15:44:32 GMT

Clean water is at the core of human well-being. With water there can be good nutrition, sanitation and health. Without it, there is poverty and disease.

Throughout the world, roughly two million children under the age of five die because of diarrhea and pneumonia – two diseases easily prevented by safe drinking water, sanitation and proper hygiene.

Global progress in increasing access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation has been mixed, and progress in sub-Saharan Africa lags behind much of the world. Many challenges still persist, including the variability of available fresh water, the institutional capacities to manage it, large financing gaps, and the needed mechanisms to sustain appropriate technologies. If these challenges are not met, the burden of disease is likely to increase in the poorest countries.

And water collection from remote sources places an enormous burden on women and young children. It limits their participation in employment and education. Estimates suggest that every $1 invested to improve water and sanitation brings benefits in the range of between $4 and $34 (WHO/UNICEF, 2008).

When the Millennium Villages Project first came to Mayange in Rwanda, access to safe water and sanitation was extremely limited. The project has since worked with the local community on several water and sanitation programs designed to increase access to safe, reliable water sources and improved sanitation for households and public institutions. The project simultaneously has grown local capacity to maintain and manage these facilities.

All together, the Millennium Villages Project is working with nearly half a million people in ten African countries, helping them achieve economic prosperity and sustained growth through an approach that takes into account health, education, agriculture, business development, infrastructure along with water and sanitation.

Since the project began, more than 330 miles of new pipes have been installed to bring safe water points to homes, schools, and clinics – improving overall access and reducing the amount of water to be carried manually each day. On top of this, many new boreholes, water pumps, rain water harvesting and protected springs have been built throughout the project. Despite great advancements in water and sanitation infrastructure, these improvements alone are not enough to reduce the disease burden attributed to inadequate water and sanitation resources.

Hand-washing with soap is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions that has been shown to significantly reduce the transmission of infectious diseases, including diarrhea and pneumonia. Working closely with partners at Unilever and Lifebuoy soap, the Millennium Villages Project has developed programs to make hand washing routine at specific times throughout the day to maximize hygiene.

The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene program (WASH) is one of the best examples of the Millennium Villages Project’s integrated approach where the core sectors—health, education, infrastructure, and business development—work collaboratively in order to achieve maximum results. For example, with improved access to water and sanitation we can reduce the barriers and increase the number of girls attending school, getting the world closer to our goal of achieving universal primary education. The goals of the WASH sector include reducing child mortality and under-nutrition by preventing transmission of WASH-related diseases (e.g., diarrhea, pneumonia, skin and eye infections), and increasing sustainable access to safe drinking water and hand washing facilities, and increasing sustainable access to improved sanitation.

Kyu-Young Lee is Associate Director of Communications at the Earth Institute , Columbia University in New York.

Rwanda: Mayange’s Step-and-Wash Project Setting Health Agenda in Bugesera

Wed, 15 May 2019 15:38:30 GMT

By Seraphine Habimana

More than two million children die of diarrhoea every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Diarrhoea is the second leading killer of children, accounting for 29 per cent of under five deaths annually.

And, like diarrhoea, many other waterborne and hygiene-related diseases such as dysentery and typhoid keep malaria haunting villages across the country.

Real-time Info System Developed to Halt Spread of Ebola

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 16:25:23 GMT

Although the Ebola epidemic that raged in West Africa has largely disappeared from headlines in recent months, it was only a couple of weeks ago that the last country still battling the epidemic, Guinea, was declared Ebola-free , a full two years after the disease started spreading in December 2013. (Photo above: Contact tracers in Conakry attend a refresher training on using CommCare during household visits.)

During this time the epidemic has caused more than 28,000 infections and 11,000 deaths across West Africa. In order to contain an infectious disease like Ebola, which spreads rapidly through direct contact with blood or other body fluids of an infected person, the chain of transmission from one person to another needs to be disrupted. This is difficult to do when Ebola symptoms such as fever, vomiting, and fatigue are characteristic of many illnesses, and the natural act of caring for a sick person puts the caregiver at risk.

Additionally, Ebola has a 21-day incubation period, which means that someone who has been exposed to the virus could see symptoms develop anywhere between 2 and 21 days after contact with an infected person, a significant window during which the presumably healthy individual could be carrying the virus to yet another location. Exposed individuals need to be identified and monitored during this 21-day period so that if they develop symptoms, they can be transferred to a treatment center as soon as possible. Early isolation and treatment increase the patient’s chances for survival, as well as decrease the window of time during which the disease can be passed on to someone else. This process is known as contact tracing, and it is the cornerstone of epidemic control.

In a recent article in Global Health: Science and Practice , the Earth Institute’s Ebola response team documents how it established a real-time information system in order to facilitate contact tracing activities in Guinea. Contact tracing during the Ebola epidemic has been a particular challenge due to the sheer numbers of individuals requiring monitoring (called “contacts”), which at one point reached almost 4,000 contacts spread across half of the country’s 33 prefectures. Contract tracers were recruited from the local community and trained to visit their assigned contacts every day for 21 days to monitor for Ebola symptoms and to provide Ebola-related information.

Traditionally, a paper-based data collection system was used to record information about contacts’ health status, using paper forms that started with the contact tracers and passed through multiple levels of management before the aggregated results were available for analysis, dissemination, and response. This time-intensive process of entering, collating, and cleaning data caused delays between the time that the data was first collected by contact tracers and the time when it was available to the response teams to inform their decision making. Furthermore, the number of hands that the data passed through allowed for more errors and made it difficult to identify where errors might have been introduced.

In September 2014, President Alpha Conde requested the assistance and technical guidance of the Earth Institute at Columbia University (EI) and Millennium Promise (MP) to strengthen this flawed contact tracing information system. In partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Guinea’s National Ebola Coordination, the joint EI-MP Ebola response team launched a mobile platform and data analytics system for contact tracing. Building on experience working with community-based mobile health information systems for community health workers in the Millennium Villages Project , the program used android smartphones and the CommCare ODK-based software application to:

(1) “Improve quality of work through built-in workflow algorithms for contact tracers

(2) Facilitate real-time identification of contacts who have not been visited, allowing same-day intervention, and

(3) Increase accountability of contact tracers through timestamps and GPS points collected with their surveillance data.”

Data could be collected offline, saved on the phone, and submitted when 2G, 3G, or WIFI networks are available. The data were then automatically loaded into a web-based analytical dashboard powered by Tableau and updated on an hourly basis, enabling rapid access to analyzed data by prefecture and national-level surveillance teams. Additionally, multimedia Ebola education messages were loaded into the CommCare application to support the contact tracers in educating the community about Ebola.

First piloted in Conakry, the program covered 5 prefectures in Coastal Guinea. Approximately 350 contact tracers and 84 supervisors were trained to use the system, and over 18,000 contacts were monitored.

The implementation of technology during an emergency outbreak certainly had its challenges – including issues with training and hardware management, coordination among partners, and building data utilization capacity among over-burdened government staff – and in most locations the mobile contact tracing system was used in conjunction with the paper-based one. Nonetheless, the program demonstrates the ability to quickly mobilize, train, and deploy a community-based cadre to use sophisticated, smartphone-based information systems during complex emergencies in low-resource settings. This initiative documents the potential of innovative technologies, deployed with “proper technical capacity and oversight”, to “expand access to critical data from remote communities to control an outbreak” as well as help prevent future outbreaks.

Now that Guinea has been declared Ebola-free, the country enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance . We hope that the lessons learned from the mobile contact tracing program can inform future efforts to make strong community-based information systems integral to health systems strengthening and emergency preparedness initiatives.

The full version of the paper “Introduction of Mobile Health Tools to Support Ebola Surveillance and Contact Tracing in Guinea” is available at the Global Health: Science and Practice open access site .

The full suite of materials on Ebola sensitization and CommCare for community-based health workers can be found on the Millennium Villages Project website.

SENEGAL-LOUGA : Aminata Diop, a leader doubly committed to the rural community of Léona

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 16:25:23 GMT

Aminata Diop, 32, nurse, health post manager

Female leader doubly committed to the rural community of Léona

Originally from Mboro, it is in Léona, in the region of Louga that she chose to fully commit in community health. Aminata Diop is passionate about communication who uses the community radio of Léona FM as an awareness tool.

She believes that "in terms of professional challenges, women are just as capable as men".

Being the first woman appointed head of post in Léona, the practitioner is available 24 hours a day for the local population who widely appreciates it as evidenced by the four children that were given her name.

Millennium Promise congratulates her and encourages her to maintain her daily efforts.

By Halima Djigo

Can you describe your school curriculum up to your graduation as a nurse?

After graduating from high school in Mboro, I went to the nursing school of Thiès. I worked in a clinic in Mboro and then in another one in Tivaouane. I spearheaded the creation of the health post of Potou where I spent five years. In 2007, I was appointed to Leona as head of post and I am the first woman to access this position.

What do you do on a day to day basis?

With my team consisting of a midwife, a laboratory assistant, a matron and a paramedic, we receive patients at the dispensary but we also do analyzes. Influenza, diarrhea, vaccination on Wednesdays and Fridays, nutritional monitoring and ultrasounds are part of the package of activities that we carry out. Healthcare requires a deep commitment to patients. It is a very noble profession and I urge my colleagues to be attentive to patients, because it is essential. We must be able to detect any symptoms that can help us to provide a diagnosis. A bit of delicatess and caution is highly required. The commune of Leona relatively respects the ratio of 6 health posts for 30 000 inhabitants. Despite that, the number of staff is not enough for the monthly number of attendence. Consultations begin starting from 8:30 am and we take a break at 3 pm, to rest a for a few minutes. Work then resumes because we also deal with afternoon and evening emergencies such as deliveries.

What are the major difficulties encountered in the performance of your duties?

The irregular renewal of the drug stock is a real obstacle to the smooth running of our health activities. It's been three months, since December 2017, that we have no drugs in our depot and that can lead to complications in case of emergency. Two days ago, one of our patients had a seizure while her companion had gone to buy the medications the midwife had prescribed two hours earlier.

In addition, we only have one ambulance available for the five health posts in Léona. It is only available for one patient at a time, who can mobilize it all day, while other patients are also waiting for emergency care. Patients are forced to wait for long hours before being transported to Louga.
The second ambulance of the commune is in the locality of Sague Djiby Yague, and the midwife has to wait for an hour, every time she calls it, before it actually arrives.

Additionally, the health committee purchases the drugs and distributes them to children under 5 years of age in accordance with the universal health coverage prevailing in Senegal. Unfortunately, it’s been 14 months since the government has not refunded us.

How do you like working with Millennium Promise?

I like traveling and listening to acoustic music. Baaba Maal and the Rafa group are my favorite musicians.

What advice would you give to young girls that are reading you?

Puberty is a difficult time and I recommend that teenagers always ask for advice to try and better know their body. It is important to break the ice between adults and youth to avoid taboos. For those of them that are students, I strongly encourage them to continue their studies as long as possible. Be patient and do not be discouraged, even if the obstacles are numerous, you must hang on!

(PADEF-EJ) to visit Potou MVP

Tue, 15 May 2018 16:13:34 GMT

Last week, our Millennium Village Project in Potou was visited by a team from the project Supporting the Development of Women Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment (PADEF-EJ) from May 14th to 16th.

The team consisted of M. Ismaila BADJI, Monitoring-Evaluation Manager of PADEF-EJ, M. Malang BODIAN, Administrative and Financial Officer of PADEF-EJ, Mrs. Ndiemeh K SONKO Monitoring and Evaluation Assistant of PADEF-EJ and the representative of the Cooperation and External Financing Department (DCFE).

This visit is part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the National Fund for the Promotion of Women Entrepreneurship and Millennium Promise to strengthen the activities of the '' Infrastructures and Services '' component in the fields of Health, Education, Agriculture, Rural Infrastructure - Energy-Water-Hygiene and Fisheries. The ultimate goal of this partnership is to contribute to the improvement of girls and women’s living conditions as well as their economic situation through the facilitation of access to credit, the development of infrastructure and support services for the production of value chains as well as capacity building. The overall objective of this mission was to evaluate the achievements made by the Millennium Village Project on the basis of the 2018 Work Plan established for the area of Potou.

Millennium Promise (MP) partners with the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network to popularize the SDGs at local level

Fri, 27 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Dakar, April, 27, 2018

As part of its "Pathway to Solutions" initiative, a high-level delegation of political, economic and media leaders from the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network led by the network's President and CEO Dr Djibril Diallo, accompanied by Millennium Promise, conducted a study trip to Senegal and the Gambia from the April 23th to 27th of 2018.

Millennium Promise CEO Dr. Amadou Ibra Niang-member of the Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network-took part to the delegation's meetings particularly the workshop with the Ministry of Higher Education Research and Innovation on the Higher Education Reform in Senegal held on Monday, April 24, 2018 at Lagon 2.

That first meeting, chaired by the Minister Pr Mary Teuw Niane, brought together the chancellors of Senegal's universities, the directors of the higher institutes, the minister's advisers and various representatives of the young leaders' associations. This was an opportunity for MP to present to the Minister the various projects undertaken with the Alioune Diop University of Bambey including the SDG-based territorial information system which will serve to guide the planning of local authorities as well as the concept of the SDG incubator Centre to improve the employability of young graduates.Other meetings were held with local authorities particularly with the Association of Mayors of Senegal.

The second day of the mission in Senegal was marked by courtesy calls to national authorities such as former Prime Minister and current special Envoy to the President Mrs Aminata Toure; as well as the diplomatic community of Senegal, such as the Ambassador of Great Britain, his Excellency Mr. George Hodgson. Meetings were also held with the United Nations agencies, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNWOMEN. The Resident Coordinator Ms. Priya welcomed the delegation to the UNDP office.

The mission to Senegal ended after a meeting with the Senegalese Press on Wednesday, April 25 at the United Nations Information Center. The main purpose of this meeting was to establish partnerships between the Senegalese press and the major press outlets represented in the network such as the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the National Association of Newspaper Publishers (NNPA) and the International Press Institute at Vienna, Austria (IPI). The groups have committed to producing a Memorandum of Understanding on a few key areas, including training, content sharing and participation in each group's conventions.

The mission continued on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th of April in Banjul where the delegation accompanied by the CEO of Millennium Promise held further meetings with the leaders of the country.

Therefore, the delegation held a series of meetings at the UN in The Gambia. The UN Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative, Ade Mamonyane Lekoetje as well as other UN officials shared with the delegation their achievements in the area of Sustainable Development Goals particularly in terms of SDGs localization in Gambia.

The delegation met the Minister of Information and Telecommunications Demba Ali Jawo and the Permanent Secretary Amie Njie-Joof to discuss about the Ministry's role in the popularization of the SDGs.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports of The Gambia also received the delegation with the presence of the Permanent Secretary Daedalus Ceesay, Deputy Permanent Secretary Abtoulie Kah and other officials to discuss about Youth Policy and Sustainable Development Goals in The Gambia.

The delegation was subsequently received by Her Excellency Aja Fatoumata C.M. Jallow-Tambajang, Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, who supported ARDN and the Rojalnu Youth Association for the popularization of SDGs at country level, an articulation of the SDGs with the national development plan (2018-2021) to accelerate the transformation of the living conditions of the populations, especially young people and women. The Vice President focused on education and youth employment, wealth creation at local level to lift rural people out of poverty. The Vice-President welcomed positively the idea of launching the Sustainable Territories Program aiming at localizing the SDGs at the level of the Gambian territorial communities.

About the mission

The mission is part of the "Pathway to Solutions" initiative which, as stated by Djibril Diallo. It aims to popularize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ARDN initiative to promote the Sustainable Development Goals was designed in partnership with the Office of the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Mrs Amina Mouhamed, the UN Senior Africans Group , the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of Columbia University that is led by Pr Jeffrey Sachs, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

The mission was named in honor of the late "Les Payne", an NABJ member and strong supporter of the cooperation between the diaspora and the African continent. Mr. Payne died a few weeks before the mission.

The delegation led by Dr. Djibril Diallo includes: Mr. Joe Davidson, columnist at The Washington Post and co-founder of NABJ; Mr. Cloves Campbell, publisher of Arizona Informant and former chairman of NNPA, Mrs. Floydetta McAfee, President of Summerland Studio, LLC; Mr. Frank Jackson, Assistant Vice Chancellor Prairie View A & M University; Mr. James Gomez, Director of International Affairs, Rainbow / PUSH Coalition; Mr. John Yearwood, President of Yearwood Media Group and Executive Board Chairman of the International Press Institute in Vienna, Austria.

Millennium Promise CEO Dr. Amadou ibra Niang accompanied the delegation to Senegal and The Gambia.

About ARDN

African Renaissance and Diaspora Network, Inc. (ARDN), is an internationally operating NGO headquartered in New York, with the status of a United States 501(c)(3) public charity. ARDN's mission is to accelerate the attainment of the African renaissance by advocating for and supporting United Nations programs, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, ARDN mobilizes the passion of government, educators, artists, intellectuals, the private sector, civil society and youth, using the power of art, sport and culture as vectors for creating a better world. ARDN serves as the Secretariat for the Global Alliance of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent. ARDN is chaired by Constance B. Newman, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, who has formerly served as Assistant Administrator to the United States Agency for International Development and as United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.

MP & UADB Present the territorial information system project to Local authorities and Representatives of the Diourbel region

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT

The Alioune Diop University of Bambey (UADB) and Millennium Promise (MP) have initiated the implementation of a territorial information system project for the region of Diourbel. This project is part of the support of local authorities for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Senegal, using Diourbel as a pilot region. The project consists in developing a territorial information system which incorporates multi-level and multi-sectoral data about the current state of health, education and water for instance; in regards to the implementation of the SDGs in the Diourbel region. The information system which will be made available to the administrative authorities and local elected representatives of Diourbel, will serve as a planning tool both at municipal level, at the departmental and regional level.

In the perspective of implementing the project in question, a meeting was held in the Multimedia Room of the UADB on Thursday, March 22, 2018 with attendance from mayors, county council presidents and department heads of the Diourbel region.

In his welcoming speech, the Rector of UADB, Professor Lamine GUEYE, emphasized on the importance of the project for the region of Diourbel and the need for the involvement of local elected representatives in its implementation. Professor Lamine GUEYE also praised the commitment of the administrative authorities of the region in this project as well as he stated his belief that the collaboration between, UADB, MP, the services and local authorities as well as other stakeholders of the Diourbel region was necessary for the good implementation of the project.

Moustapha Ndiaye, Prefect of the Diourbel Department, representing the Governor of the Diourbel region, said that local authorities in the region are strategic actors and beneficiaries of this information system project which will be a tool for local development. He requested the contribution of all stakeholders including the administrative services, the communes and the departmental councils of the region as well as the UADB and Millennium Promise for the collection and the treatment of the data until the presentation of the final version of the project document.

In his speech, Dr. Amadou Ibra NIANG, Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Promise gave a more detailed presentation of the project by focusing on the technical, institutional and financial aspects of it. Dr. Coura KANE, Teacher-Researcher in the Sustainable Development Department of UADB, presented the chronogram for the implementation of the project which should be completed by end of June 2018.

The local representatives attending the meeting expressed their appreciation as well as commitment to supporting this project.
In conclusion, the Rector thanked the elected representatives for their favorable reactions and reiterated the commitment of the UADB to support the local authorities and the services of the region of Diourbel within the framework of the service to the community which is a new mission of the Senegalese university.

Photo credit : CRI-UADB.

DIOURBEL: The territorial SDGs based information system will guide the planning documents of local authorities

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

February 28, 2018

A regional information development committee (C.R.D) was held on Tuesday, February 27, 2018, at the Diourbel governance, on the implementation of the SDG based territorial information system.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Governor in charge of development, Mbaye Dione, in the presence of Dr. Amadou Niang, Director of the Millennium Promise NGO and Dr. Lamine Gueye, Rector of Alioune Diop University of Bambey.

Several participants including Moustapha Mbacké, Mayor of the commune of Missira, and Alé Gueye, secretary general of the Diourbel county council, hailed this "collective project of operational research" which "will serve all the territorial collectivities of the region", according to the rector of the UADB.

The committee was an opportunity for the various stakeholders to agree on the deployment of targeted surveys using ICTs and GIS allowing the collection of data on SDG indicators including smoking, alcoholism, road accidents, soil degradation which are relevant to the Emerging Senegal Plan (PSE) as well as they can be located at sub-national level. ICT and GIS tools will also be applied for the delimitation of local communities, village lands, neighborhoods etc.

"Following the baseline study, an online platform will be put at the disposal of the administration and municipalities for them to be able to access their data and better coordinate their interventions in order to fill gaps in education, for example, or in the health sector, "said the CEO of Millennium Promise. The platform will also allow administration and municipalities to assess their tax potential thanks to the tools of Information and Communication Technologies as well as Geographic Information Systems.

Being providers of a number of public services (water and sanitation, education, etc.), "local communities are key players in the fight against poverty," said Mbaye Dione, deputy governor of the Diourbel region. He ensured the involvement of all technical services at different levels of the region.

Governor of Diourbel region affirms commitment to operationalizing SDGs using Diourbel as a pilot region

Fri, 09 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Dakar, Senegal, February 09, 2018

On Thursday, February 8, 2018, Dr. Amadou I. Niang, CEO of Millennium Promise and Professor Lamine Gueye, Rector of Alioune Diop University of Bambey (UADB), visited M. Mouhamadou Moustapha Ndao, governor of the Diourbel region.

This visit was the first step in the development of an SDG-based territorial information system for localizing the SDGs at the sub-national level, using Diourbel as a pilot region.

The Governor welcomed the initiative and expressed his willingness to contribute to the implementation of the project, the results of which will be highly profitable for the Diourbel region.

Mr. Mouhamadou Moustapha Ndao has promised "to personally mobilize all the resources available to him so that the project proceeds under ideal conditions and achieve its objectives".

The governor also confirmed that a meeting of all the regional leaders would be organized as soon as possible to discuss the arrangements to be made.

As a reminder, the Alioune Diop University of Bambey and Millennium Promise intend to expand their partnership to all key development actors working on the implementation of the SDGs at the territorial level.

Pilot phase of the operationalization of the SDGs in Senegal to take place in the Diourbel region

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Dakar, Senegal, February 1st, 2018

This Tuesday, January 30, the second working session between Millennium Promise NGO and Alioune Diop University of Bambey took place; as part of the partnership that they have launched for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at regional level.

For the purposes of this meeting, Dr. Amadou Ibra Niang, CEO of Millennium Promise and Dr. Ibrahima Kampo, SDSN Sahel Network Manager, traveled to Alioune Diop University of Bambey to meet with Dr. Moussa Dieng, Vice-Rector of Alioune Diop University; M. Aladji Madior Diop; Head of the Sustainable Development Department; Dr. Ousseynou Ka, Director of the UFR Health and Sustainable Development; Dr. Aba Diop researcher in Biostatistics; Dr. Ibrahima Faye, researcher in Biomathematics and Dr. Mountaga Dia, research professor in health and sustainable development.

MP’s CEO and Dr Dieng representing Professor Lamine Guèye, Rector of the UADB, proceeded to sign the Memorandum of Understanding sealing the alliance between MP and Alioune Diop University of Bambey, in addition to "agreeing together on the approach to be used to create the tools to develop an SDG-based territorial information system, which will be scaled up at the national level, starting with Diourbel as a pilot region ", as underlined by Dr Amadou Niang.

Along this process, Alioune Diop University of Bambey and MP will broaden the partnership to key national development actors working to implement the SDGs at national and territorial level.

During this working session, the two entities also mentioned several topics including: the terms of reference of the partnership as well as the data collection for the baseline study of the region of Diourbel.

The two parties have also drafted an action plan to present the baseline study of the region of Diourbel to the Bambey forum on Sustainable Development scheduled for the month of June on the in Diourbel.

Japan to Support Programs in the Millennium Villages in Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda with Second $5 Million Grant

Mon, 15 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK, DECEMBER 15, 2014

A second $5 million grant from the Government of Japan to the Millennium Villages Project has just been announced. Beginning January 2015, the funds will support operations in four Millennium Villages—Sauri and Dertu (Kenya), Pampaida (Nigeria), and Mayange (Rwanda)—in keeping with Japan’s commitment to conflict prevention and peace-building in these regions.

Building upon Japan’s earlier support for the Millennium Villages Project between 2006 and 2011, this grant follows a first grant of $5 million announced on June 30 of this year. More than $20 million in funding from the Government of Japan—provided through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)—played an essential role in launching nine Millennium Villages Project sites. The Government’s support has extended to four additional countries (Benin, Cameroon, Madagascar, and Mozambique) for the establishment of new project sites in partnership with UNDP.

“The commitment of the Government of Japan to sustainable development, human security, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in sub-Saharan Africa is exemplary,” said Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Millennium Villages Project. “Japan has been a supporter of the Millennium Villages Project from its inception, and this new round of support is enormously valuable and timely. This contribution again demonstrates Japan’s role as a global leader in the fight to end extreme poverty. On behalf of all those who work to make this project a success, we are deeply grateful to Prime Minister Abe, the Government of Japan, and the people of Japan, for this tremendous support.”

“The Millennium Villages Project, through the support of the Government of Japan, is a leading model for countries in sub-Saharan Africa to constructively address their development challenges,” says Grete Faremo, the Executive Director of UNOPS.

The Millennium Villages Projects is a partnership initiative of Millennium Promise and the Earth Institute, Columbia University, with UNOPS as the lead executing organization. The Project’s aim is to demonstrate that progress toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in low-income rural sub-Saharan African villages can be made over a ten-year time frame by promoting a comprehensive package of low-cost, science-based interventions and practices within the budget structure recommended by the UN Millennium Project.

For more information please contact:

Amy Shaw

Director of Development & Communications

Millennium Promise

Azusa Chiba

Partnerships Practice Group

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

Millennium Promise provides the operational platform and resource mobilization for the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), which empowers communities to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. In partnership with The Earth Institute at Columbia University and UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the MVP works with impoverished rural communities, African governments, and a global network of scientific, corporate, and non-governmental partners to apply evidence-based policies and interventions recommended by the UN Millennium Project, combined with local on-the-ground knowledge. Approximately 500,000 people live in the 10 Millennium Villages, all of which are located in “hunger hotspots” reflective of major farming systems across ten sub-Saharan African countries. The Project is demonstrating that the MDGs are achievable through a targeted, holistic, and cost-effective approach to community- and national- level investments.

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs And Millennium Promise Lead Team To Support Government Of Guinea On Rapid Ebola Response

Thu, 25 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK, September 25, 2014

Prof Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University will lead a team at the NGO Millennium Promise to support the Government of Guinea in its rapid Ebola response.

The work, which begins immediately, will focus on four core activities:

The rapid design and implementation of a real-time, national-scale informatics system. Based on the use of smartphones by community health workers, the system will help Guinea track Ebola cases and trace contacts of infected people to help control the spread of the disease.
The deployment of thousands of community health workers specially trained to support communities impacted by Ebola, including case detection, contact tracking, community information and awareness, and other functions;
Strategic planning, costing and implementation design for the rapid scale-up of all facets of epidemic control: surveillance, case detection, treatment, contact tracking, behavioral change, training and upgrading facilities, and others.
Promotion of global collaboration by international organizations and the business sector that is highly responsive and targeted to Guinea’s urgent needs.

“To catch up with and beat Ebola, we need to substantially scale up our response,” said Guinean President Alpha M. Condé. “The immediate deployment of community health workers trained and equipped through an initiative of Professor Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University will accelerate and strengthen our national response to Ebola, as well as structure a response at the level of our local communities, who will be empowered to fight back and understand how to contain [such] diseases.”

The work has already begun and will build in the coming weeks. The project team leader will be Anne Liu, who is the lead manager of the Community Health Worker Program of the Millennium Villages Project.

As Guinea moves beyond the epidemic emergency, the newly deployed community health worker responsibilities will shift to strengthening essential primary health services. This will include work on: surveillance of danger signs and referrals; healthy behavior counseling around nutrition, sanitation, and bed-net usage; curative care for diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia; and counseling of pregnant women around antenatal care visits, postnatal care visits, institutional delivery and healthy pregnancy.

The Earth Institute will serve as a technical advisor to help build the Community-Based Ebola Response Program. This work builds on a decade of Earth Institute leadership on community-based health delivery in rural Africa, including the 1 Million Community Health Worker Campaign .

Full statement from President Alpha Condé:

“To catch up with and beat Ebola, we need to substantially scale up our response and implement without any delay all the resolutions and actions decided this week. Because each day counts, the immediate deployment of Community Health Workers trained and equipped through an initiative of Professor Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University will accelerate and strengthen our national response to Ebola, as well as structure a response at the level of our local communities, who will be empowered to fight back and understand how to contain [such] diseases.

“The international community has heard us and now realizes that we are facing a global menace, which we, Africans, did not bring upon ourselves and have done all we could to fight. Ebola is a very serious threat requiring a unanimous resolve and full commitment from all of us; but it is not [a losing battle]. We now know how to break the chain of viral transmission and how to care for infected persons, who have a significantly higher survival rate when diagnosed early and treated appropriately.

Panic, fear and country isolation will not help. Massively scaling-up awareness campaigns, training, protective gear availability, systematic testing, treatment facilities as well as the number of health care and management personnel, will.

“We are confident that this partnership will enhance our capacity and make a difference immediate in our response, while setting the stage for building a more robust national health system designed to provide adequate healthcare for our peoples and combat any future epidemics.”

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter Donates $125,000 to Help At-Risk Newborns in the Millennium Villages

Thu, 12 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMT

On June 3, Chime for Change co-founder Beyoncé Knowles-Carter made a surprise appearance at this year’s anniversary celebration at the Gucci Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City, and announced a $125,000 gift to Millennium Promise that will help nearly 2,000 at-risk newborns in the Millennium Villages.

The gift will scale up the recently launched campaign by Millennium Promise and Embrace Innovations to bring infant warmers to the Millennium Villages to help at-risk newborns survive. This new donation—which covers the warmers, shipping, training, and data collection—will fund the distribution of 320 Embrace infant warmers to 100 rural health facilities across 11 Millennium Villages in 10 sub-Saharan African countries.

The need is great. Nearly 10% of children in sub-Saharan Africa die before reaching their fifth birthday, with roughly 34% of these deaths occurring during the first 28 days of life. Preterm and underweight babies are especially vulnerable as they have difficulty regulating their body temperature. Few rural health facilities can afford traditional thermo-regulation devices like incubators. The Embrace infant warmer is an innovative new technology that provides critical temperature regulation for babies during their first 28 days of life.

At the event, Knowles-Carter committed a total of $500,000 to support four Chime for Change projects focused on Education, Health, and Justice, with Millennium Promise in partnership with Embrace Innovations among them. To raise additional support for the Chime for Change Projects, Gucci pledged to donate 10% of sales from its Fifth Avenue flagship store from June 2-5.

“We are deeply grateful to Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Chime for Change, and Gucci for this extraordinary support. We are also thrilled to be partnering with Embrace Innovations to bring Embrace infant warmers to health centers across the Millennium Villages. We expect that this gift and partnership will reduce neonatal deaths and improve the lives of newborns and their families across sub-Saharan Africa.”

Founded by Gucci, Chime for Change is a global campaign dedicated to raising funds and awareness for girls’ and women’s empowerment. The June 3rd event commemorated the one-year anniversary of the campaign’s launch at The Sound of Change Live global concert in London. Millennium Promise in partnership with Embrace Innovations was selected as one of four campaigns featured at the celebration and to work with Catapult, the crowd-funding platform dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women around the world.

Islamic Development Bank And Earth Institute Partner To Meet Millennium Development Goals In Rural Africa

Tue, 13 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMT

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA, August 13, 2013

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Earth Institute (Columbia University) formed a partnership in 2011 to work with African nations to support their efforts to end extreme poverty. The IsDB and the Earth Institute and its partner, Millennium Promise, are pleased to announce that the IsDB and its poverty reduction arm, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), have now extended more than $100 million in financing to help eight African nations combat extreme poverty, improve public health and achieve more sustainable development.

In each of these projects, host governments will partner with the IsDB, the Earth Institute and Millennium Promise to carry out the projects. The Earth Institute, led by its Millennium Development Goals Centers in East and West Africa, and Millennium Promise, will provide technical, operational and scientific guidance to the nations involved in the new initiative.

“The Islamic Development Bank is showing great and innovative leadership in addressing poverty in its member states,” said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute. “In these new programs, the bank is applying cutting-edge methods to the fight against poverty, hunger and disease. It is a privilege and honor to be working along with the IsDB on this bold undertaking.”

The combined $104 million will finance three major programs:

The ISFD’s new flagship Sustainable Villages Program (SVP) in Chad, Mozambique, and Sudan ($40 million)
Scale-ups of the Millennium Villages Project in Mali, Senegal and Uganda ($29 million)
Implementation of the Drylands Initiative in Djibouti, Somalia and Uganda ($35 million)

Spearheading the financing initiative is IsDB’s president, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, who explained, “Alleviating poverty is part of the IsDB’s Mission, and it will be better achieved if we cooperate with parties that have successful experience in the field. This is why IsDB, many member countries of which are among the least developed in the world, is partnering with the Earth Institute, which brings rich practical expertise that will help us ensure that our financing is effective.”

The $104 million will be provided in the form of Islamic finance (long-term repayments at zero interest rates) to the recipient countries, except in the case of a grant provided to Somalia. All of these countries are members of the bank.

“This new partnership between the Islamic Development Bank, Earth Institute, Millennium Promise, the MDG Centers and the eight Africa nations is a true measure of the steadfast commitment of all to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,” said Amadou Niang, director of the MDG Centre for West Africa. “The countries have seen first-hand the impacts of the Millennium Villages project. The fact that they are now taking loans to bring lessons learned to scale across nations is tremendous testament to their ownership of the development program. We are very proud to work with these nations and the Islamic Development Bank to scale-up and help realize their vision and dedication to the MDGs.”

The Islamic Development Bank’s Sustainable Villages Project builds on the experience gained over the past seven years in the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), as well as the bank’s long-standing and extensive work throughout Africa in fighting poverty. Both the MVP and SVP include an integrated package of science-based services and technologies to help rural African communities to improve public health, agriculture, education and standard of living.

For the SVP, the Millennium Villages Project team will provide technical and operational advice to the governments of Sudan, Chad and Mozambique in Africa, and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, where the Sustainable Villages Project will be carried out. The aims are to accelerate deployment and implementation of innovative technologies and ensure that lessons learned in the Millennium Villages inform the design of the new programs, and that the systems in health, education and agriculture are up to national and international standards.

In support of the request of the bank’s member countries, the IsDB is also providing financing to Mali, Senegal and Uganda to scale-up the existing Millennium Village work with the help of the Millennium Villages Project.

In addition, the Islamic Development Bank will be financing dryland nations including Djibouti, Somalia and Uganda, all facing tremendous sustainable development challenges, to implement interventions aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals and increasing resilience to droughts and other climate shocks. The Millennium Villages project will provide both advice and technical development expertise to the nations.

“Millennium Village interventions can be adapted to improve lives in even the most challenging contexts,” said Belay Begashaw, director of the MDG Centre for East Africa. “Our long-term solution to boosting resilience of communities to weather shocks and diminishing the reliance on emergency relief is now serving as an important model for many parts of Africa beyond the current MVP host countries. Best practices and cutting-edge technologies of the MVP will now support the regional effort to escape the scourges of extreme poverty and famine. We are proud to work with IsDB on this exciting effort.”

Ugandan Government Launches Scale-up of Millennium Villages Project

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMT

KAMPALA, July 1, 2013

In a landmark ceremony in Kampala last week, the Government of Uganda launched the scale up of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), supported by new funding from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) of $US 9.75 million. The announcement follows the success of Ruhiira Millennium Village in the south west of the country, which since 2006 has served as a proof of concept of the benefits of an integrated, holistic approach to rural development pioneered by the MVP.

Speaking at the event on Thursday, June 27, Honorable Adolf Mwesigye, Minister for Local Government announced that the funding will be used to reduce poverty in line with the objectives of Uganda’s national development plans.

“Ruhiira since 2006 has demonstrated the success of an integrated approach to sustainable rural development. The key virtues of this project are a holistic approach to tackling poverty. The evaluation of the project in phase one showed landmark achievements whilst demonstrating growth in target locations, for example in the elimination of hunger, improved livelihoods, and full attendance at primary schools.”

“The IDB has commenced support to the Ministry of Local Government under two unique and interrelated programs – the MVP scale-up project, and the Community Agricultural Improvement Project. The objective is to increase national competitiveness and improve agriculture and infrastructure for the benefit of rural house.”

The MVP scale-up funding will support the Government’s provision of social services and business development in Ruhiira and will expand project activities within the region where Ruhiira is located.

“The first Millennium Village Project was in one location only. Now, the project will move to cover the entire district, as well as Gomba, Nakaseke, Bukedea, Oyam, and Amuria districts,” said David Siriri, team leader of Ruhiira village during the event.

The total package of interventions will be worth approximately $US 11.5 million, including other contributions from the Government, NGO’s and the communities themselves.

“Our partnership with the Government and the IDB provides a solid foundation for sustaining and spreading the gains achieved in Ruhiira beyond the life of the MDGs in 2015,” said Siriri. “We are aligned with national development priorities which focus on house hold income and the promotion of equity, access to social services, and the promotion of science, technology, and innovation.”

Community ownership of the project is equally important to ensuring sustainability.

“Even though these communities are classed as poor, you will surprised by how much they can now bring to the table,” said Siriri. “Working with people from the beginning to define their needs and to develop and run projects that meet these needs is they key to long term success.”

In Ruhiira, community involvement has been spurred by business development and training initiatives that provide people with the means to generate independent incomes.

“In Ruhiira, people are increasingly able to invest in social goods such as household costs of health and education, insurance, and household sanitation thanks to project interventions aimed particularly at agribusiness marketing and entrepreneurship. These lessons will form the bedrock of the MVP scale-up program.”

Rwanda to Scale Up Millennium Villages Approach Nationwide

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

NAIROBI, September 13, 2012

The Rwandan government and the Millennium Villages Project will work together in a new partnership to spread efforts to eradicate extreme poverty throughout the nation. The partnership will build on the project’s successes in improving health, education and business opportunities in Mayange, a Millennium Village community of about 23,000 people.

Rwanda is one of the first nations to develop a strategy to scale-up key aspects of the Millennium Village approach to the national level, following an agreement signed by the Ministry of Local Government, the Earth Institute, and the MDG Centre for East and Southern Africa last year. Since then, the government has made rapid progress in increasing the focus of the national poverty eradication strategy on attaining the Millennium Development Goals.

“The government of Rwanda has greatly benefited from [the Millennium Villages Project], which was one of the motivating factors for its Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme as the national scale-up model,” Justine Gatsinzi, deputy director general in charge of the Social Protection Programme, said at a meeting in Kigali on July 16. He said the new partnership should help the Umurenge Programme expand the focus on the Millennium Development Goals country-wide.

Started in 2006, the Millennium Villages Project has focused on helping countries meet the Millennium Development Goals. The project has been using a multi-sector approach — building infrastructure, upgrading community health programs, improving agriculture, supporting education and gender equality, and helping to develop local businesses — in 14 clusters of villages in some of the poorest areas of Africa.

“Close partnerships with African governments are essential to achieving and sustaining the MDGs, and we are exceptionally pleased that the government of Rwanda has come on board as a key stakeholder,” Dr. Belay Begashaw, director of the MDG Centre for East and Southern Africa, said. “Working together, we hope to facilitate the spread of benefits from Mayange to the citizens of Rwanda. Our objective is to transfer ownership of the Millennium Villages to both communities and national authorities, ensuring the Africa-wide attainment of the MDGs, way beyond 2015.”

The Social Protection Programme is part of Rwanda’s Local Development Support Fund aimed at helping the country to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and housed within the Ministry of Local Government. As the deadline for attaining the Millennium Development Goals approaches in 2015, the key to sustaining the gains made so far in the Millennium Villages lies in strengthening government and community capacity to take over and expand the project.

The government has set up a task force to identify gaps in national policy that can benefit from the Millennium Villages Project model. In the long term, the MDG Centre and the Ministry of Local Government will work to scale up the strategy across the country. The focus will be on utilizing new technologies to increase food security; bolster agribusiness; support water security; expand access to energy for poor households; and design data management and reporting systems.

In Mayange, the project helped create business opportunities through a new cassava flour plant, honey production, pig and poultry farming, and basket weaving and knitting cooperatives for women. The health center has been connected to the national grid, and its facilities were improved and expanded, with X-ray equipment, stocks of medicines and an ambulance service. Access to improved drinking water has tripled; immunization coverage is now at more than 90 percent; and three computer laboratories and two libraries were set up.

Mayange was honored by a surprise visit on July 3 from President Paul Kagame, who visited the cassava processing plant and spoke to farmers and facility staff. Prior to the start of the project, farmers relied on subsistence farming, and suffered periodically from drought and famine. Hunger and malnutrition was a daily reality for most villagers. The Millennium Villages Project helped Mayange’s farmers greatly improve cassava yields and develop a marketing strategy for the excess produce. The plant has helped farmers increase their incomes from cassava, and is generating sufficient profits to enable the community to invest back into the scheme.

The president, visiting with the minster for local government, James Musoni, and local and district government officials, was shown new facilities upgraded and expanded independently by the community. These include a drying facility and fermentation basins, which are serving to improve both cassava quality and production levels, as well as a truck purchased to improve market access. Just recently, the facility received its first major loan, for 63 million Rwandan Francs ($US 104,000), from the Popular Bank of Rwanda.

“The President’s informal visit was an excellent opportunity for the Mayange community to demonstrate the incredible progress they have made in lifting themselves out of poverty since the start of their collaboration with the [Millennium Villages Project] six years ago,” said Donald Ndahiro, the team leader of MVP Mayange. “We look forward to working with both local and national government authorities to share these lessons nationwide.”

Nigeria Working With Earth Institute to Expand Anti-Poverty Program

Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

September, 2012

Nigeria is ramping up its effort to fight extreme poverty in many of its poorest areas, using hundreds of millions of dollars available through an international debt relief program, combined with money from local governments, to expand health care, education, water infrastructure and other programs.

The government also has renewed its partnership with the Earth Institute, which has played a key role in advising the national and local governments on the scale-up of its programs. Since 2010, the institute has been helping local authorities design and implement development programs.

“The Millennium Development Goals have provided opportunities for governments across the world to touch the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable populations,” Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said. “My administration will continue to invest in the Millennium Development Goals sectors to improve access and the quality of education for our children, improve the reach and quality of our health service delivery and support public-private partnership arrangements for skills development in the agricultural sector and youth employment.”

The Earth Institute's Millennium Villages Project has provided key lessons and techniques for the Nigerian program. Millennium Villages Project operates in ten African countries, including in Nigeria, helping communities fight poverty, hunger and disease by improving health systems, agriculture and nutrition, and promoting business development. Rwanda and Senegal also have moved to expand their anti-poverty efforts nationwide and are working from the Millennium Villages Project model for the delivery of cross-sector interventions.

Nigeria's expansion will more than double the reach of the country's Conditional Grants Scheme, which funds development programs through local governments, and is part of Nigeria's broader plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Those goals, established by the United Nations, aim to reduce the number of people living in extreme poverty by half, provide universal education, improve child and maternal health, promote gender equality and fight HIV/AIDS, among other targets.

“We are delighted and honored to be working with President Jonathan and his able team in the Nigerian MDGs Office,” Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs said. “The Conditional Grants Scheme and its investment in the local government areas is a path-breaking accomplishment of truly lofty goals. And we're proud that the Millennium Villages Project has helped show that achievement of the Millennium Development Goals is possible.”

“The MDGs has provided a veritable means of collaboration between the three tiers of government and the development partners in meeting the nation's developmental objectives devoid of friction,” said Precious Kalamba Gbeneol, senior special assistant to the president on the Millennium Development Goals.

Under Nigeria's Conditional Grants Scheme, local governments agree to match funding from the national government. Nigeria has just released $150 million through the program to 113 local government areas, covering 20 million poor.

The government has said it will include another 148 local government areas in the next round of funding, and hopes to reach all 774 local governments by 2015.

Nigeria has been receiving more than $1 billion a year in international debt relief payments, and the president's office has declared that the money would go toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Nigeria so far has committed $1.2 billion to achieve those goals. Money will go to build and supply 5,172 new classrooms, 565 health clinics and 2,147 clean water sources in some of the poorest parts of the country and potentially reaching more than 28 million Nigerians.

The program's achievements will be celebrated at a special event held in conjunction with the UN General Assembly at the Millennium Hotel in New York City on Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Earth Institute, Columbia University, mobilizes the sciences, education and public policy to achieve a sustainable earth. Through interdisciplinary research among more than 500 scientists in diverse fields, the institute is adding to the knowledge necessary for addressing the challenges of the 21st century and beyond. With over two dozen associated degree curricula and a vibrant fellowship program, the Earth Institute is educating new leaders to become professionals and scholars in the growing field of sustainable development. We work alongside governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals to devise innovative strategies to protect the future of our planet.

New Millennium Village Site Aims to Improve Lives of 30,000 in Ghana

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

ACCRA, Ghana, 28 August 2012

A new Millennium Village to help 30,000 poor villagers to escape poverty in northern Ghana has been launched today with support from the Governments of the United Kingdom and Ghana.

The new Millennium Village site will include communities in some of the poorest sections of the West-Mamprusi and Builsa Districts of northern Ghana.

The effort includes a ten-year independent evaluation of the project, which will examine the various impacts of the project and help to provide evidence on the most effective ways of improving the lives of some of the world’s poorest people.

Development in northern Ghana lags behind the rest of the country. While the number of people living in poverty in southern Ghana has decreased by 2.5 million over the past 20 years, it has increased in the north by almost 1 million with the majority of people living below the poverty line.

The Millennium Villages Project seeks to help rural communities in Africa fight poverty, hunger, and disease, by improving health systems, fighting hunger and malnutrition, and promoting business development, with the aim of helping the communities achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

In addition, Britain’s Department for International Development will also provide assistance to support the Government of Ghana and civil society’s engagement with the project, and to promote substantive discussion and analysis of the evaluation reports.

The findings of the evaluation will make a major contribution to the growing knowledge-base of best practices in development and to increasing the effectiveness of efforts to reduce extreme poverty.

President John Mahama of Ghana, UK International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University Jeffrey Sachs, and other representatives from the Government of Ghana formally launched the Millennium Village in northern Ghana today.

“Donor assistance should be utilized in the most effective ways possible,” said Sachs. “The Millennium Villages Project aims to deliver rapid progress towards the Millennium Development Goals through investments spanning agriculture, health, education, infrastructure, and business development.

Moreover it can provide a useful framework for national policy makers, and therefore aims to benefit host countries far beyond the Millennium Villages themselves. My colleagues and I are deeply grateful for the UK’s far-sighted assistance efforts. Those strong efforts are admired worldwide.”

Speaking at the launch of the new project, Britain’s International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: “Britain is determined to help Ghana end its reliance on aid and pull itself out of poverty for good.

This new Millennium Village aims to improve the health, education and job prospects of thousands of villagers in northern Ghana, kick-starting development in one of the poorest areas. Our independent evaluation of the village will ensure that our aid is spent as efficiently as possible.”?

The MVP is a comprehensive approach that uses evidence-driven methods and community engagement to reduce extreme poverty. Now directly reaching approximately 500,000 people in 10 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the project is also supporting national efforts by the governments of Nigeria, Rwanda, and others.

The MVP includes an integrated set of community-led interventions to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The project has facilitated improved malaria control, increased farm yields, and increased access to safer water, basic health care, and food security.

The project in Ghana will aim to:

Increase skilled staff delivering basic health care services — for instance, by aiming to increase the proportion of births attended by skilled health workers
Remove barriers to family planning services — for instance, by aiming to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate
Improve income earning opportunities — such as through increased crop yields, better access to financial services, and promoting cooperatives and small enterprises
Strengthen local institutions and community capacity — to increase involvement by the local community and to ensure the sustainability of results
Ensure access to quality primary and secondary education, and achieve universal enrollment in primary school
Increase access to safer water and improved sanitation — for instance, through constructing ventilated pit latrines, drilling wells, and protecting natural springs
Achieve better connectivity within the site and beyond — for instance, through improved roads, extended access to electricity, and greater mobile phone coverage

Notes to Editors
DFID will provide up to $18.1 million (£11.5 million) over the next 5 years to support the Millennium Villages Project.