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Centre for National Culture (CNC) – Accra sensitises local communities to ways of curbingCOVID-19 through drama
The Greater Accra Regional Centre for National Culture, under the auspices of National Commission on Culture (NCC) has adopted drama as a way of creating awareness and sensitising people within the Region on COVID-19.
Dubbed: ‘Mask-Up”, the Centre has so far staged drama at Makola, Dodowa and Kpone-Katamanso markets as well as within the Greater Accra Region.
The Centre has been using the event to distribute also hand sanitisers, face masks and T-shirts to people in these areas where the drama was staged.
Purpose
The campaign, funded by the COVID-19 National Trust Fund, is intended to raise awareness and educate people on the safety protocols on the disease.The campaign admonishes citizens on the need to adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols, help mitigate the spread and impact among residents in the various areas. The Centre’s awareness campaign takes the form of drama, which is a communication tool for community development.
The drama, “COVID-19 Down” performed by the CNC Accra Drama Group involves acting out scenes on coronavirus with actors playing the roles of individual characters in the play and telling “a life-changing story” with scientific facts on the coronavirus pandemic.
The drama is interwoven with informative dialogues and music, helping the audience to remember the story with a visual force. The drama is supported with other performances including, poetry, traditional music and dance.
Appeal
The Director of Accra CNC, Mrs. Alice Alima Kala expressed worry about the current trend of COVID-19, particularly how some people disregarded the safety protocols.She, therefore, appealed to the public to consider the COVID-19 safety protocols one of the surest ways of dealing with the pandemic.
Expectation
On her part, the Executive Director of National Commission on Culture, Ms Janet Edna Nyame, expressed optimism that the campaign “will give the participants the opportunity to once again become“ more conscious about the pandemic and help disseminate their knowledge among their family members, friends and neighbours and make them aware of COVID-19 health issues”.
Expressing excitement about the campaign, the Public Relations Officer of the Centre for National Culture, said as the drama was performed in a local language for a local audiencehas the tendency to reach out to a larger target audience with a particular message that could make a lasting impact.
Support
A non-governmental organisation, Rescue Volunteers – Ghana, supported the campaign with some PPE.
Country Coordinator of Rescue Volunteers – Ghana, Mrs. Lydia Tsotsoo Odai Tettey expressed worry on the low use of PPE and the breach of the social distancing rule by the traders and said her agency would continue to distribute PPE and hand sanitisers to traders at the market centres.
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UNODC partners GFA Foundation on Prison advocacy and mentorship programme
The GFA Foundation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have agreed to work together to advocate for anti-discrimination and the elimination of stigmatization for prisoners and prisons.
This partnership was agreed, in principle, during a meeting at the Home of Football (GFA Head Office) between the Director of the GFA Foundation and the UNODC Team led by Mr. Christoph Capelle, an Associate Expert in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Coordinator of the prison and penal reform project in Ghana.
Welcoming the Team to the Home of Football, the Director of the GFA Foundation, Mr. Malcolm Frazier Appeadu briefed the team about the GFA Foundation – Ghana Prisons Project which has covered 6 prisons across the country already.
He indicated that the Foundation is liaising with the Ghana Prisons Service to commence the second and third pillars of the project, which are the coaches and referees training programs as well as the advocacy and mentorship initiatives.
He said that the GFA Foundation will welcome partners for the execution of the second phase of the project which will include Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, Kumasi Central Prison, Sekondi Central Prison and three other prison facilities.
In his response, Mr. Christoph Capelle commended the GFA for the GFA Foundation – Ghana Prisons Project which seeks to use the power of football to promote the wellbeing, reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates of Ghana’s prisons into society.
Mr. Capelle said that UNODC is looking forward to a collaboration with the GFA Foundation on possible programs for both the medium and long term to support football and sports jobs and skills development in Ghana’s prisons.
He extended an invitation to the GFA Foundation to be part of an assessment of overall prison rehabilitation programmes including the use of sports by their international consultant at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison.
There will be a football match and donation of footballs, sports items and equipment to the prison facility.
Present at the meeting were Mr. Kwame Koramoah, an officer at the GFA Foundation and Integrity Office, Helena Adobea Ofori, Associate Programme Officer, UNODC and Caleb Elorm Agodzo, Administrative Officer, UNODC.
It will be recalled that in 2020, The UNODC and FIFA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to tackle corruption and crime in and through sports and pledged to consider ways in which football can be used as a vehicle to strengthen youth resilience to crime and substance use through the provision of life skills training.
The MOU was renewed last year by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
News
Gomoa West: NPP, NDC supporters clash over commissioning of DRIP equipment
Supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday morning clashed over the commissioning of machinery for the District Road Infrastructure Project in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region.
According to Citi News sources, the conflict began when NDC supporters questioned the decision to display images of Bismark Basie Nkum, the NPP’s Gomoa West parliamentary candidate on the DRIP machinery.
This disagreement quickly escalated, almost leading to a physical altercation between the two groups.
Baisie Nkum, who doubles as the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gomoa West, further claimed that the Member of Parliament for the area, Richard Gyan Mensah, brandished a pistol and issued threats against the NPP’s local leadership.
A viral video circulating on social media captured the DCE accusing MP Richard Gyan Mensah of pulling out a gun and threatening NPP supporters during the heated incident.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
