Ahead of the 2024 World Water Day celebration, World Vision Ghana has renewed its commitment to ensuring that every child has access to safe water. Mr Joshua Baidoo, Director for Integrated Programmes of World Vision, Ghana, said Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) played an essential role in ensuring children enjoyed life to the fullest, hence the commitment. Mr Baidoo was speaking at a press soiree organised by World Vision Ghana in Accra on Tuesday. The event was for World Vision Ghana and media organisations to bond well and pool resources and expertise together to drive and accelerate community and national development. He said World Vision Ghana understood the issues of WASH and had prioritised the provision of safe drinking water in its programming for decades. ' The communities we work in now have access to clean and safe drinking water, reducing the incidence of water-borne illnesses such as diarrhoea and cholera, which can sometimes lead to child mortality,' he said. Mr Baidoo commended the m edia as a great partner in raising the voices of the most vulnerable children, their families and communities that were desperately in need of clean and safe drinking water. The Director said two years ago, World Vision Ghana launched a five-year strategic plan designed to expand its outreach to 3.3 million most vulnerable children with life-saving development interventions. They are WASH services, quality education, health, food and nutrition, livelihood and income generations, child protection as well as environmental restoration concepts for Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration principles. He said the strategy named: 'Accelerating our Commitment to the Most Vulnerable Children' also entailed systems strengthening at the national and sub-national level to facilitate the effective delivery of essential services for children and their families. He said the strategy outlined three technical programmes as pillars for achieving the strategic objectives. These are Healthy, Environment and Wellness (HEAL); Rea ding, Improvement and Skills Enhancement (RISE) and Livelihood Improvement and Family Empowerment (LIFE). He expressed the hope that the meeting would strengthen the collaborative efforts with the media and showcase World Vision's technical competence in the various sectors. Mr Robe L. Wamisho, Technical Programme Manager, WASH, said 85,200 people in communities were provided with access to safe drinking water while providing 19 health facilities with improved water facilities on-site. He said 56,492 people gained access to improved household sanitation facilities with 77 communities certified as Open Defecation Free. '…38 schools with a total population of 11, 981 pupils were provided with clean water on their school premises and 27 schools also received waste bins for effective waste management,' he added. He said 298 water and sanitation management teams and 44 WASH school clubs were formed with 631 faith leaders involved in WASH programme activities. Mr Samuel Gmalu, Programme Manager, Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs, said 8,000 Asylum Seekers and host community members were reached with humanitarian assistance through the Burkina Faso Asylum Seekers Emergency Response. He said 85 partners were trained in peace-building and conflict sensitivity programmes in the Gushiegu and Karaga Areas. Mr Maxwell Amedi, Programme Manager, Food Security and Livelihoods said 290 new Saving for Transformation (S4T) Groups comprising 6,133 members caring for 15,394 children were formed and trained. He said 4,792 Saving Group members were trained in financial literacy skills while training 1,072 individuals in additional livelihoods, including beekeeping, Shea, and groundnut processing was ongoing. He said the LIFE technical programme sought to build and maintain peaceful, inclusive, and cohesive families and communities to promote love and justice for one million vulnerable children by 2025. Mr Sasu Brako, Acting Programme Manager, RISE, said 4,2652 children were participating in unlock literacy interventions acr oss World Vision Ghana's programming areas. He said 32,450 learners from kindergarten to primary three were reached with improved literacy instruction in 264 schools with 360 early childhood teachers and early grade teachers receiving in-service training in unlock literacy and learning roots methodology. Source: Ghana News Agency OMUTHIYA: The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) from the Oshikoto Region are conducting two operational orders in support of the 34th independence celebration on 21 March 2024 and the midterm school break. The first operational order is called operation 'Tukuluho' and started at Omuthiya on 19 March till 24 March 2024 while 'Tsela Tshweu' started on 19 March till 02 April 2024. NamPol Deputy Commissioner of Crime Prevention in Oshikoto, Wynand Neels said that the objective of Tukuluho, which means independence in Silozi, is to protect life and property by maximum security before, during and after the commemoration of the 34th Independence Commemoration. 'We want to mount massive checkpoints through crime intelligence-led, intensified operations and visible policing focusing on crime hotspot areas,' said Neels. He added that they want to enhance road safety and reduce fatalities on public roads by focusing on moving traffic violations, driving under the influence of alcohol, inconsiderate driving, overloading , and unroadworthy vehicles. 'We want to provide a safe and secure environment for our citizens and visitors during the period,' said Neels. Furthermore, Neels said operation Tsela Tshweu which means travel safe in Setswana, aims to preserve road safety along national roads aimed at bringing normalcy to the current situation and to save lives and property of all people in Oshikoto. He said that the joint crime prevention and road safety operation will be conducted in all policing areas in the Oshikoto Region concentrating on crime-prone areas. 'Sporadic and surprise stop-and-search roadblocks should be conducted along all roads covering the accident-prone zones and introducing crime awareness campaigns and sharing it with the public through media networks,' he said. Neels also pointed out that the government has been receiving threats from a group led by the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters and one of its members, activist Michael Amushelelo by boycotting the envisaged independence celebrations. 'They threaten to stage a demonstration against unemployment countrywide on 21 March 2024 aiming to instigate the nation,' said Neels. Source: The Namibia Press Agency