The Head of Programmes at Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Madam Christina Gallagher has commended Women Congregations involved in the implementation of a project 3-year project dubbed “Strengthening the Capacity of Women Religious in Early Childhood Development Phase three (SCORE ECD III) for the achievements chalked since the inception of the project in December 2021.
Speaking at a four-day partner reflection meeting organised by the CRS at the Global Dream Hotel in Tamale From January 15 to 19, 2024, she entreated the Religious Congregations to put in the necessary strategies to overcome the challenges they encountered.
She urged them to figure out the next steps in the implementation of the project, discuss and fine-tune the action plans they have drawn up based on the Holistic Organisational Capacity Assessment Instrument (HOCAI), in order to meet the implementation timelines of the project.
The HOCAI is CRS’ capacity strengthening tool designed to assist organisations to conduct a self-analysis of their strengths and challenges, develop an action plan, and improve organisational functions through capacity strengthening and thereby create a standardized framework to help organisations engage in a process of continuous assessment and improvement that will sustain organisational capacities.
The SCORE ECD III project is being undertaken by CRS and the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious in Ghana (CMSR-GH) supported by seven Women Congregations in ten districts/towns in three Dioceses in the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province.
The Congregations are Sisters of Mary Immaculate, Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy, Sisters of Charity of St. Anne, Sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mary Mother of Christ and Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters.
In the Yendi Diocese, Saboba, Tatale, Chamba and Chereponi are the beneficiary towns while in the Navrongo- Bolgatanga Diocese, the beneficiary towns are Walewale, Kongo and Fumbisi; Damongo, Tuna and Tinga are the beneficiary towns in the Damongo Diocese.
SCORE ECD III is funded by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a Philanthropic Trust based in the United States of America with the goal to ensure that children between the ages of 0-3 years in the targeted areas live in a nurturing environment by the end of 2024.
The January 15 to 19 meeting at the Global Dream Hotel in Tamale brought together Master Trainers who are Reverend Sisters from the Congregations and staff of CRS to reflect on the progress of the project.
The meeting was also to identify challenges and areas where the Congregations will require support and strengthen their capacities, and also follow up on sustainability action plans which were drawn up in 2022 to enable the Congregations carry on with the project when it ends in September, 2024.
Madam Jemilatu Mashood, the Localisation, Partnership and Capacity Building Adviser at CRS, solicited the co-operation of participants to ensure the attainment of the goal of the project.
As the Resource Person for the meeting, she urged participants to use CRS to strengthen their internal systems, assuring them that CRS would provide the needed technical support to build their capacities to ensure the successful implementation of SCORE ECD III.
Sr. Theodora Adzayawo, the Executive Secretary of CMSR-GH said the meeting would provide a platform to evaluate the successes and challenges of SCORE ECD III and chart a path for the way forward.
She described the meeting as “beneficial” saying, “We have learned a lot” and entreated her colleagues to look at the project with renewed optimism, adding that they would be counting on the support and collaboration with CRS to address all the gaps identified.
She thanked the Superiors General and Coordinators of the Congregations and the Master Trainers for their dedication to the project despite their busy apostolates in their Parishes and institutions.
Giving an overview of the project, Mr. Sheriff Telly, the SCORE-ECD III Manager at CRS, said a total of 6,336 Caregivers of children between the ages of 0-3 have been reached while the Integrated Mothers and Babies Course (IMBC) recorded 359 beneficiaries.
He indicated that while the beneficiaries under ECD were 5,071 with 906 interventions under the SMART couples’ programme which uses faith-based curricula to strengthen household governance and intra-household decision-making.
The SMART couples’ concept uses faith-based curricula to strengthen household governance and intra-household decision-making while challenging detrimental cultural and gender norms.
It also coaches cohabitating partners on better ways to communicate and adopt joint-decision making behaviours as regards nutrition, maternal and child health, natural family planning, household economics, among others.
He also mentioned that four ECD spaces, which provide a safe space for a child’s holistic development, have been created at health facilities in Walewale, Damongo, Kongo and Chereponi.
He added that the capacities of the Congregations and CMSR-GH have been strengthened in the areas of safeguarding, Procurement, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL), human resource and finance and advocacy.
He also stated that 283 out of a targeted 296 ECD groups have been formed, adding that Master Trainers also led advocacy sessions on some radio stations to commemorate World Children’s Day with positive feedback from listeners, among other achievements.
Giving updates on the progress of work which also catalogued the successes or achievements chalked implementing SCORE ECD III and the challenges encountered, Sisters of Mary Immaculate who are undertaking the project in Damongo, reported that one of their major achievement is that pregnant and lactating mothers who attended IBMC sessions under the project are now able to regulate their moods to avoid depression.
However, they observed that cultural beliefs tend to affect male participation in ECD activities.
From Walewale, the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne, reported that antenatal and post natal attendance witnessed an increase, adding that they catechised some SMART couples and assisted them to be baptized and bless their marriages. They however noted that farming and harvesting seasons makes it difficult to carry out ECD activities.
At Kongo where the project is being undertaken in the suburb of Logre, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul reported that ECD groups formed have increased from 21 to 44. They however indicated that their challenge was Caregiver volunteers assisting them are not attending sessions with group members.
Story & photos by Francis E. Monnie
