The European Union (EU), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, have launched a €2.7 million multi-donor initiative in Northern Ghana to significantly strengthen the resilience and improve the lives of forcibly displaced persons and their host communities.
The two-year Supporting the Resilience of Forcibly Displaced People and Host Communities in Northern Ghana initiative, known as the UNITE Project, co-led by UNICEF Ghana and UNHCR, is being implemented in the Tarikom and Zini communities of Ghana's Upper East and Upper West regions, respectively.
Key areas of the intervention, which include housing and electricity, socio-economic data and national services, education and social cohesion, child protection and legal identity, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health and nutrition, aim to address the urgent needs of women and children while strengthening national systems for inclusive development.
Speaking at the launch of the project in Zini, Irchad Razaaly, the European Union Ambassador to Ghana stressed that the collaborative effort which was delivered in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, National Identification Authority, and local government authorities, seeks to improve access to essential services, foster social cohesion for forcibly displaced persons and other vulnerable groups and promote long-term sustainable development, to align with national strategies and complement existing efforts like the Gulf of Guinea Social Cohesion (SOCO) programme. "Prolonged conflict in the Gulf of Guinea has forced thousands to flee their homes, with over 17,000 asylum seekers estimated to be living in the Upper East and Upper West regions of Ghana.
