The Nadowli-Kaleo District Assembly in the Upper West Region is set to organize community fun games and cultural displays to foster unity and social cohesion among communities in the district.
This is under the World Bank $150 million Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project, multi-country intervention being implemented in Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast and Togo as a proactive approach to prevent conflict overspill from the Sahel region and address other threats.
In Ghana, the project is being implemented in 48 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the five Northern regions.
The project aims “to improve regional collaboration and socio-economic and climate resilience of border-zone communities in the target northern regions of the Gulf of Guinea countries exposed to conflict and climate risks”.
The events, anchored by the District Directorate of the National Youth Authority, will feature football games and traditional dances by participating cluster of communities on 21st and 22nd December, 2023 at Sankana community.
Speaking in an interview with Info Radio, the District Planning Officer, Mr Salifu Ibrahim Tiani said the activities form part of the first component of the SOCO project dubbed “Community Investment for Strengthening Local Resilience and Inclusion.”
He said the fun activities were targeted primarily at the youth of the district in the selected communities as part of the “youth engagement and social cohesion activities”, aimed at imbibing the spirit of unity among the young people.
“We are looking at ways to unite the youth from various communities to enable channel their energies into productive ventures to help develop their communities.
In this regard, we are bringing together the youth, chiefs, community members and other prominent stakeholders together for peace and harmony building amidst exciting activities,” he said.
He added that the events were targeted at fostering inclusion within the communities, ensuring minority and special ability groups were included in the communities’ development processes.
Mr Tiani said the communities are coordinated into clusters to participate in the activities as teams which included Sankana, Takpo, Sombo-Jang, and Charikpong clusters.
He hinted that winners of the soccer and dancing competitions would be awarded prize packages ranging from trophies, sporting jerseys, footballs, drums, xylophones among others.
He urged the people of the district to take active part in the event to help promote social cohesion, peace and harmony for the holistic development of the district.