RAAP MAKES IMPACT IN UPPER WEST REGION (PAGE 20)

THE Upper West Region is one of the poorest regions of the country. It faces many development challenges.
The challenges are so varied that the government alone cannot provide the needed resources to address the issue that confront the poor and marginalised rural people.
It is for this reason that the launch of Rural Aid Action Programme (RAAP), a non-governmental organisation, has been observed by the people in the region as a great blessing for them.
Over the years, RAAP has been engaged in the development of the Upper West Region. Its engagement with rural communities in improving their livelihoods, education, health, access to institutional finances and rural enterprise development as well as gender advocacy, has contributed tremendously to the development of households, families and communities, particularly in its operational areas.
RAAP is one of the notable local development organisations in the region that has over the years been complementing government’s efforts in rural development. It has recruited some enthusiastic and energetic young volunteers who have a desire to bring about change.
The desire to rekindle communal spirit and determination to improve the lives of marginalised and vulnerable groups in rural communities are its sole motivation. Since its inception, RAAP has been based at Hain, a small town in the Jirapa District in the region. One of the most incredible things about the formation of RAAP is that it grew in a small town, Hain, a difficult place for an NGO to be located.
However, despite the many obstacles, RAAP successfully grew to become an effective and efficient organisation. The initial intention of RAAP’s founder was to form a formidable student group to advocate the rights of poor and marginalised people.
After operating for sometime, the NGO realised that focusing its work simply on student issues would not make sufficient impact. It recognised that members of the local community found themselves helpless. Everyone sat around expecting handouts from the government. This meant that if government failed to act, little or no development changes would be registered within the rural communities.
Having identified this vacuum, RAAP saw it as a challenge to galvanise the support of the community to take matters into their own hands. Thus, the NGO was transformed from a proactive student group to a powerful organisation devoted to community development.
As an NGO and a non-profit organisation, RAAP’s mandate is to combat poverty in low income, food deficit rural communities through the implementation of sustainable community development projects aimed at assisting the poorest of the poor to increase their food and income security while improving their health and educational status.
RAAP concentrates its activities on specific communities and targets marginalised groups, including self-help women groups and their families, providing them with technical and financial support to improve their livelihoods. RAAP’s goal is to work in partnership with development agencies, civil society groups, government and communities to improve and sustain the livelihoods of the resourced poor by increasing their capacities and skills to influence policies and practices that affect them.
RAAP has established three other field offices at Gwollu, Wechiau and Jirapa. Based on resource mobilisation, RAAP intends to expand its activities to the rural areas in the future.
Currently, RAAP which is being supported by SNV, a Netherlands-based development organisation is implementing a five-year strategic plan, that is, from 2008 to 2012.
Under the plan, it is implementing development projects in the region, ranging from three to five years. The projects include an animal traction project benefiting 91 rural people comprising 64 men and 27 women in Jirapa and Lambussie-Karni districts where the beneficiaries are supported with a bullock/donkey, plough and a chart with training on the usage and maintenance. This initiative has contributed in increasing productivity as well as reduction of women’s workload.
Another intervention by RAAP, rural women livestock production project is currently benefiting 370 rural women organised into 37 groups in the Jirapa and Lambussie districts, is breaking the gender perception that women do not rear animals. The intervention increasing the beneficiary women’s income through livestock rearing.
Another project introduced by the NGO — Community forestry and natural resource management project, under which three nurseries have been established, is benefiting 2,242 rural people. It provided them with access to credit and enterprise development skills.
Another initiative of RAAP, village savings and loans project, set up in 80 communities (40 in Sissala West, 25 in Jirapa and 15 in Lawra), has helped 372 groups, 25 per cent of who are women.
Market analysis and development is another intervention by the NGO, which focuses on village tree enterprise in the Gbele reserve in the Sissala West District.
Adolescent reproductive health project introduced by the organisation has so far trained 240 peer educators, 12 drama and puppetry performances, video shows and discussions on HIV/AIDS, trained 140 community health volunteers and 40 barbers.
Gender advocacy, also an initiative of RAAP, has trained 352 gender teams in 88 rural communities, facilitated the establishment and training of magazias, advocacy on gender issues at the community level regarding access and control of the productive resources.
RAAP undertakes the projects in partnership with international development organisations. Prominent among those partners are Tree Aid UK, Oxfam GB, Plan Ghana, Care International, SNV-Netherlands Development Organisation and Technoserve/USAID.
The Executive Director of RAAP, Mr Evans Sinkari, in an interview with this wrtiter, thanked partner organisations which had been supporting the organisation in carrying out its work of assisting and living with poor people.