SI ACCRA: INTEGRATED PROJECT FOR COMMUNITY SOCIAL INTERVENTIONS

Soroptimist International Club of Accra has launched a new approach to its projects. The new integrated approach will see the Club’s Programme Action develop under a community-by-community programme geared towards addressing two or more areas of our work in one community at a time, thus optimizing impact and benefit. Hitherto, projects were located in multiple locations with only one theme or area. This made monitoring and evaluation a challenge. Additionally, the average age of the club is around 65. This, coupled with distance issues and reduced interaction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, led members to agree to adopt this approach.

In the past our projects have addressed one or more of the SDGs in small and isolated measure. Against this background, and with the passage of time, SI Accra realized that:
• All of the SDGs (3,4,5,6 and 13) covered by the Club’s mandate resonate throughout many communities in Ghana;
• A holistic approach to addressing the SDGs under which the Club’s mandate falls would ensure greater impact under a single pilot project;
• all the relevant SDGs can be addressed in one community and used as a model for future projects;
• this could then be replicated in other communities under a larger programme and collaborative effort with sister clubs and/or other CSO’s.

The first community to benefit under this new holistic approach is James Town, a suburb of Accra where the club is collaborating with a local non-profit Organization, James Town Ngleshie Noyaa Kpee (JTNNK).

The project, dubbed SI/JTNNK Integrated Project for Community Social Interventions (CSI) has five components linked directly to the five main UN/SDGs (mentioned above) which are associated with our work.

The project started early this year, and the Club has so far been able to provide vocational training scholarships to two young ladies under an arrangement with SI Norway. The Sanitation component is being addressed under cooperation with SI Kyoto. Under SDG 13, tree planting exercises are under preparation.

We shall be updating you as activities proceed. In the meantime, please enjoy the photos associated with what we have done so far.