About 70 households affected by recent violent clashes in the Savannah Region have received relief items to alleviate their plight and improve their living conditions.
The beneficiaries were drawn from Fulfulso in the Central Gonja District, as well as Sawla, Kalba, Sanyeri and Nakwabi in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District.
The relief items included 140 bags of maize, 70 bags of rice, 70 bags of cowpea, 35 cartons of cooking oil, three bales of sleeping mats and 11 bales of second-hand clothing.
The items were donated by Changing Lives in Innovative Partnerships (CLIP) in partnership with Acting for Life (AFL), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Savannah Regional Coordinating Council.
The support formed part of the Project to Support Cross-border Communities Vulnerable to Insecurity and Fragility (ACTIF) in Ghana, funded by the Crisis and Support Centre (CDCS) under the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Project
The ACTIF project operates in cross-border areas of northern Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin, where communities continue to face instability linked to the Sahel crisis.
It seeks to strengthen the livelihoods of vulnerable populations while preserving social cohesion, particularly in areas experiencing tensions related to livestock mobility.
In Ghana, the project is being implemented in six districts in the Upper East and Upper West regions, namely Garu, Bawku West, Kassena-Nankana West, Sissala East, Sissala West and Lambussie, while extending support to other areas in response to urgent humanitarian needs.
Impact
Handing over the items, the Director of CLIP, Lukman Yussif, said the intervention was intended to cushion the impact of the conflict on affected households, many of whom had suffered displacement, food shortages and loss of livelihoods.
He said the violence, which involved attacks on herders, displaced about 261 individuals in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District and 587 in the Central Gonja District.
He said the support would not only alleviate immediate hardship but also help restore dignity and hope among displaced persons, while supporting their recovery.
Mr Yussif added that CLIP would also cover the cost of further medical treatment for a five-year-old boy from Nakwabi, who sustained gunshot injuries during the violence and still has a bullet pellet lodged in his head.
Mr Yussif stressed the need for collective action to address the situation and urged communities to prioritise peace.
He called on residents to support efforts to resolve the conflict through dialogue and stakeholder engagement and to assist law enforcement agencies by exposing individuals involved in criminal activities.
Commendation
For his part, the Savannah Regional Director of NADMO, Mahama Zakaria, commended the organisation for the timely intervention, describing it as a significant complement to government efforts.
He indicated that aside from NADMO’s provision of temporary accommodation, CLIP was the only organisation to have extended such support to the victims so far.
He further appealed to benevolent organisations, philanthropists and the general public to assist the affected families.
Some beneficiaries who spoke to the Daily Graphic expressed gratitude for the support, saying it would help them meet their basic needs and begin rebuilding their lives.
They also called for sustained interventions to address the root causes of the conflicts and ensure lasting peace and stability in the affected communities.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
