CARE International Ghana, a Non Governmental Organisation based in Tamale, has provided support for 26 communities in the Lawra District to develop Community Action Plans (CAPs).
The CAPs, which contain the visions and development needs of the communities, were presented to the Lawra District Assembly on Friday at Lawra in the Upper West Region.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Mr Issifu Adama, Project Manager of CARE International, noted that the idea behind the development of the CAPs was to enhance communities' involvement in the District Assembly's decision making processes.
He noted that the Action Plans also focused on development goals and strategies and covered sectors such as agriculture, education, health, water and sanitation as well as environment and conservation.
The occasion created opportunity for the communities to share their plans with other development actors operating within and outside the district to enable them to buy into issues contained in the CAPs.
Mr Issifu said the CAPs if well implemented, stood the chance of addressing the development needs of the communities thereby reducing the
extreme poverty among the people.
Mr Issifu therefore called on the District Assembly to incorporate them into its Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) to enhance efficient and
effective development of the district.
Mr James Dassah, a retired Regional Economic Planning Officer appealed to CARE International and other NGOs to support the communities in other
areas of the Plans since the Assembly alone could not capture all in its MTDP.
He advised the communities to mobilize themselves to undertake their own development priorities and not to rely exclusively on the District Assembly.
Mr Christopher Ninfaabeliebe from Zidung Community observed that CAPs would enhance effective community participation since community members would now feel as part of the decision making process of the Assembly.