The Meta Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has distributed 20 weaving machines and accessories to refugees, asylum seekers, and members of host communities in Tarikom and Sapeliga in the Bawku West District.
The gesture was part of efforts to empower the asylum seekers and host communities in the Bawku West District with skills and income generating opportunities to help them to live dignified lives.
The initiative formed part of the “Improving Economic Resilience of Host Communities for Peacebuilding in Northern Ghana” project, aimed at strengthening economic livelihoods and fostering peaceful coexistence between refugees and their host communities.
The project is being funded by the Department of State of the United States of America through the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the UNDP.
The distribution of the weaving machines was one of several livelihood initiatives under the project designed to enhance economic resilience and promote peaceful coexistence among refugees, asylum seekers, and host communities in northern Ghana.
The beneficiaries, mostly women and youth, were expected to use the machines to start income-generating ventures to improve their living standards and reduce dependency.
Additionally, the project further trained vulnerable communities and groups in phone repairs, milk and shea processing, and rice processing.
Again, it had empowered the beneficiaries to venture into dry-season vegetable farming, detergent production, small ruminant (goats and pigs) rearing, dressmaking, as well as introduced savings mobilisation for women’s groups in the Bawku West District.
Ms Ernestina Avariko, Communications Officer and Project Lead of the Meta Foundation, expressed the hope that the gesture would help empower beneficiaries to become self-reliant and contribute to the development of their communities.
“The aim is to empower the refugees and members of host communities to earn a decent income and live in harmony while contributing to peacebuilding efforts in the area,” she said.
Some of the beneficiaries expressed gratitude for the gesture, describing it as a life-changing opportunity that would transform their livelihoods.
“With this machine, I can start my own weaving business and take care of my children,” Ms Faustina Ayindana, one beneficiary from Tarikom said.
Due to the insurgencies in the Sahelian region, many vulnerable people, particularly from neighbouring Burkina Faso have migrated into Ghana spreading across many districts in the Upper East region.
Currently, the government of Ghana in collaboration with the UNHCR, a UN Agency for Refugee, have worked to establish a reception and rehabilitation centre at Tarikom, which is currently housing over 2,000 asylum seekers while others continued to stay with indigenes in the communities.
GNA
