CHF International ends three-year Ghana youth project
The CHF International, a non-governmental organisation on Tuesday ended its three-year Youth Engagement in Service delivery (YES) project in Accra and handed its facilities to the communities to manage.
The Cooperative Housing Foundation (CHF) International, now known as Global Communities, which started the YES programme from 2009 to 2012, was designed to support the creation of sustainable means of employment for the youth through waste management and environmental cleanliness.
Mr George Amoasah, Senior Project Officer of CHF, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the close of their programme in Accra, said the beneficiary communities are Avenor, Nima, and James Town and as well as areas like Agbogbloshie, Sabon Zongo and Ayidiki all in Accra.
He said the organisation had built three compost facilities, which were being managed by the youth at Avenor, Ga Mashie and Kwabenya with each costing about 22,000 US dollars where they receive food waste from households, restaurants and “chop bars” and process them into organic fertilizers.
Mr Amoasah said through the YES programme, four “Buyback centres” had been established at Avenor, Ga Mashie, Nima and Alajo for the buying and gathering of “pure water sachet” waste and sold them to recycling companies.
He said in each community 770 households were provided with two containers for the separation of solid and organic wastes and as well donated waste bins and protective gears to basic schools in the areas.
“We have also set up trashy centres, also known as plastic fashion accessories centres at Avenor, Ga Mashie and Nima where bags, wallets, pen/pencil holders, sandals, hats, rain jackets, and dustbins are produced from sachet waste for the generation of income,” he said.
Mr Amoasah said beneficiaries were also trained in occupational health safety businesses; simple record-keeping and business proposal development and linked them to micro-financial institutions and banks for financial assistance.
He said the CHF expected the youth to utilise the skills acquired and the facilities to make a living.
He mentioned that the NGO had constructed an educational compost facility and laboratory complex at the Bio-technology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission for research activities.
He expressed gratitude to community leaders, the sub-metros and all who played diverse roles in the success of the programme.
Alhaji Sherihu Tajudeen, Assemblyman for Nima East appealed to the CHF International to extend the project duration so as to engage more youth in communities within Accra to reduce the unemployment situation.
The assemblyman said Nima East was one of the densely populated areas and through the efforts of the CHF and the Ayawaso East Sub-Metropolitan Assembly, majority of the youth had received training in trash bag production and mobile phone repairs among others under the YES programme.
Alhaji Tajudeen said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly policies and strategies were very responsive to CHF’s YES programme hence the need for the extension to enable more of the youth to get jobs.
Source: GNA