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  • ACA team meets Similimi community over ECOWAS Court ruling amidst rich cultural display

    Similimi Community welcomed Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA) staff for a combination of jubilation and serious discussions on the outcome of a recent ruling by the ECOWAS Court of Justice, which condemned the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire for failing to halt the negative impacts of manganese mining in the area.

    African culture was at its best.  Jonathan G. Kaufman, the Executive Director of ACA, and Lalla Toure, ACA’s Legal Coordinator, were treated to a rich cultural display and mouth-watering local dishes as the community celebrated the Court’s decision of November 30, 2023 in Adou Kouame and 14 others v. Côte d’Ivoire, which validated the claims of 14 representative inhabitants of Similimi, along with a communal self-help organization.  Festivities included dancing, drumming, and a todjo, a traditional meal prepared by men in the bush.

    The court found the Ivorian government culpable of human rights violations in connection with destructive mineral extraction on their traditional lands by Bondoukou Manganese Ltd, an Indian-owned mining company. The government was ordered to pay 20 million CFA Francs to eleven individual plaintiffs, repair environmental damage, resettle the community, and prosecute the authors of the environmental destruction at Similimi.

    The ACA team was joined by representatives of Groupe de Recherche et de Plaidoyer sur les Industries extractives (GRPIE), a non-profit organization that advocates for democratic, transparent, and responsible management of natural resources for sustainable socio-economic development in Côte d’Ivoire and globally.  GRPIE has been working on behalf of Similimi and other communities affected by the operations of Bondoukou Manganese for over a decade.

    The Hopeful Path Ahead

    Celebration aside, ACA’s visit to Similimi was an opportunity to explain the decision of the Court to Adou Kouamé, a key figure in the matter and his people, and to discuss the way forward in the matter.

    The team commended the entire community of Similimi for their tireless efforts at pursuing the case to its conclusion and encouraged them to remain united towards their common good.  Given the constant delays that many successful claimants face in executing ECOWAS Court decisions, however, they should not anticipate that the 20 million CFA Francs awarded by the court to each of the eleven individual plaintiffs and the order to repair the environmental damage caused by the mining project will be honored immediately.

    ACA, GRPIE, and community members all agreed that the Court’s award to the eleven claimants should be managed in a way that benefits the entire community.

    The Fight for Justice

    14 representative inhabitants of Similimi, along with a communal self-help organization, filed a complaint in the ECOWAS Court of Justice in April 2020. The communities were supported by ACA and GRPIE in their capacity as members of the Public Interest Lawyering Initiative for West Africa (PILIWA). The plaintiffs accused the Côte d’Ivoire of illegal expropriation, non-compliance with the rules of due diligence, and complicity in environmental, economic, and cultural damage.

    The Court’s November 30 ruling determined that the State was responsible for violations of Similimi residents’ rights to a healthy environment, to health, to an adequate standard of living, to private and family life, and to freedom of worship and religion. The Court dismissed the Applicants’ claim that their right to property was violated, for lack of sufficient evidence of ownership.  “Even if the Court did not recognize our proprietary right to our ancestral lands, we are indeed happy that our voices were heard by a regional tribunal and that the suffering that we have endured over the years has not been in vain,” said Adou Kouamé, one of the complainants.

  • Njala University in Sierra Leone benefits from ACA’s Community Science training

    About 50 students and faculty members of Njala University in Sierra Leone have benefitted from a day’s training on Community Science facilitated by Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), Ghana-based NGO which supports West African communities facing threats to their human rights at the hands of multinational corporations.

    The primary goal of the training was to introduce the participants to the concept of community science so they could practice it in communities they find themselves.

    ACA’s Science Lead, Dr Kwabina Ibrahim, introduced the concept of community science to the participants during which he explained the various relevant aspects of the concept, especially with regards to the involvement community members in the design of sampling protocols, the need to discuss and present technical data to communities, and the importance of validating results with local communities to ensure accuracy and uptake.

    He expressed his organization’s commitment to collaborating with scientists to assist communities with scientific knowledge.

    “Community participation in the production of scientific knowledge about their land, soil, and water is key to ensuring that they are in control of their own future, especially when they come under threat from extractive activities,” said Dr. Ibrahim.  “ACA is thankful to the students and staff of the Njala University for helping to ensure that young scientists are prepared to involve communities in their fieldwork.”

    In his remarks, the Head of the Chemistry Department, Dr. Yahaya Kudush Kawa, expressed his appreciation to ACA for the training which, according to him, has enhanced the capacity of the participants as scientists, adding that it will go a long way to enable them to initiate their own community science projects in future.

    Dr Kawa was of the view that the training would greatly enrich research activities of the university, going forward, and appealed to ACA to routinely hold such sessions in the university owing to its enormous benefits to the students.

    Professor Juana Paul Moiwo, the Director of Research of Njala University, who assisted in moderating the training session, described ACA’s Community Science concept as “science for everybody” saying: “it allows both professional scientists and community members to work together for the good of the community.”

    He was also of the view that this concept is an opportunity for scientists to collaborate with communities to enhance their research works, especially with regards to making their research findings acceptable to community.

    Some participants, who shared their views about the training were very excited about content and acknowledged that it had greatly enhanced their knowledge in community science.

  • Newly trained Community-Based Facilitators poised for action

    In line with its resolve to continue impacting positively on communities, Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA) has trained 66 Community-Based Facilitators (CBFs) drawn from 19 communities in Atiwa West and Abuakwa South districts of the Eastern region of Ghana on the effective implementation of the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP).

    Also called Oman yie die, FCAP is a partnership between ACA and partner the district assemblies as part of measures to strengthen local participation in the implementation of the Assemblies’ medium term development plans.

    The training program, which took place at Asiakwa, was also attended by 16 officials of the two district assemblies.

    The participants, which included 16 staff of the two partner district assemblies, were equipped with knowledge on participatory approach to development, conflict resolution and the need to accord maximum respect to their communities’ voices on pertinent issues affecting their welfare.

    ACA’s Director of Community-Driven Development (CDD), Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo led her team to take the participants through a number of presentations, role-plays and group discussions, among others.

    The CBFs were drawn from Ehiamankyene, Dadetsunya, Ahenkwa, Ahinkwa Sisi, Bepoase, Asedja, Nsuta, Nkankama, Subrima, Gyampomani, Awenare, Akropong, Pameng, Banso, Asunafo, Amonom, Akrofufu, Muoso, Akukuso, Akwaboaso and Asiakwa.

    The rest of the communities represented at the eight-day training programme were Adadientem, Apapam, Akwadum, Apedwa, Adortowa, Bonposo No. 1, Addonkwanta, Operko, Latemu, Agyapomaa, Amanfrom, Maase Payaase, Oboperkunya and Asafo.

  • Abompe embarks on economic transformation journey through poultry business

    More jobs are expected to be created soon in Abompe and its environs through the poultry business value-chain and turn around the socio-economic fortunes of residents, especially the youth.

    To this end, the entire community of Abompe led by Barima Kwabena Addo, the chief of the area, has commenced construction works on key structures that will house the poultry and other auxiliary structures.

    The project has just commenced with concrete works being done on the sub-structure, after which construction works on the main building (the super structure) will continue.

    This local economic transformation journey by the chief and people of Abompe in the Fanteakwa South district of the Eastern region of Ghana is anchored through the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), which aims at strengthening local participation in the implementation of the Assembly’s medium term development plan.

    Also called Oman yie die, the project is a partnership between Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organisation, which helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures, and the Fanteakwa South District Assembly.

    ACA is supporting the Abompe Poultry Business with a $9,000 micro-grant.

    “As a community, we resolved to also contribute towards this laudable project by mobilizing ourselves to provide the basic structures to be used as the poultry farm so that the funds expected from ACA can be channeled mainly into the poultry business, we have envisioned for ourselves”, Barima Kwabena Addo said in an interview.

    “As the chief of Abompe, I’m leaving no stone unturned to ensure the successful completion of this project owing to the invaluable benefits it holds for both the present and the future generations of the town.”

  • ACA supports Saamang community to renovate local R/C school block

    Renovation works on eight classrooms and an office for the local Roman Catholic basic school at Saamang in the Fanteakwa South District of the Eastern region of Ghana are progressing steadily under the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), a partnership between the district assembly and Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organisation, which helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures.

    When completed, the renovated block will provide a more convenient teaching and learning environment for the kindergarten and the primary sections of the school and ultimately contribute to the overall improvement in educational standards in the district.

    Moreover, the enrolment is expected to increase by 10% one year after it has been completed and put to use, reduce dropout rate by 5% as well as reduced the cost of education for pupils in Saamang by 15%.

    So far, the entire roof of the school has been demolished while new beams with iron rods are being fixed. Also, the pillars are being replaced with stronger ones before the building is re-roofed.

    Out of its $9,000 (approximately Gh.c 108,000) microgrant earmarked for the project under FCAP, the community has so far spent Gh.c 60,000 (approximately $4,500).

    Also called Oman yie die, FCAP is a partnership between ACA) and the Fanteakwa South District Assembly as part of measures to strengthen local participation in the implementation of the Assembly’s medium term development plan.

    In an interview, the Assembly member for the Saamang Electoral Area, Desmond Ofori Abrokwa, said the state of the school block prior to the start of the renovation works was deplorable and adversely affected enrolment as well as effective teaching and learning.

    “It is our hope that when the renovation works are completed, our kids will have a much better conducive environment to go about their studies. Also, teachers will be happy to give of their best when they have good classrooms to teach and an office to hold meetings and mark assignments”, he said.

    According to him, every effort is being made to ensure that all the remaining renovation works are completed before the beginning of next term so that the pupils can use the facility as early as possible.

  • Work progresses on Kplandey water project under FCAP

    The lack of adequate sources of potable water in the Eastern region town of Kplandey will soon be a thing of the past following the on-going works on the provision of two mechanized boreholes under the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), a partnership between the Fanteakwa South District Assembly and Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a Non-profit-making organization.

    Now, the boreholes have successfully been drilled while pumping machines have also been installed.

    “We are now left with the erection of pillars so we can place tanks on them. I’m so happy about the speed with which construction works are progressing and I’m sure that the projects will be complete and put to use by the end of the second quarter of this year”, said Mr. Joseph Teye, Chairman of Kplandey FCAP Implementation Committee.

    It is expected that after the pillars are erected and tanks are mounted on them, they will be connected to electricity to enable the pumps supply water into the tanks. Also, a management committee would be constituted to ensure the maintenance and effective management of the facilities before they are finally put to use.

    “Residents currently depend on a manual borehole and some nearby streams for water supply and so when the project is complete, it will bring a great relieve to us, especially women and children because they would no longer have to walk long distances in search of water.”

    With a $9,000 microgrant, the community members are drilling two boreholes at vantage points in the town in partnership with ACA and the Abuakwa South Municipal Assembly. The community has so far spent approximately $5,000 of its microgrant to reach this far.

    SDG 6

    Sustainable Development Goal 6 is about “clean water and sanitation for all.” It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2023. According to the United Nations, the goal is to: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

    Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes. Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction.

  • Asikam Maternity block nears completion

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    “We just can’t wait to witness the successful completion of this maternity block as it will go a long way to alleviate the pains our women go through in accessing ante-natal and post-natal health services”, Gideon Ofori Boakye, the Assembly member of Asikam.

    Asikam, a farming community in the Abuakwa South municipality of the Eastern region of Ghana, is leaving no stone unturned in completing its community-driven project under the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), which aims at strengthening decentralization process.

    Also called Oman yie die, the project is a partnership between Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organisation, which helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures, and the Abuakwa South Municipal Assembly as part of measures to strengthen local participation in the implementation of the Assembly’s medium term development plan.

    With a $9,000 microgrant, the community members are putting up a Maternity block at a CHPS Compound in the town in partnership with ACA and the Abuakwa South Municipal Assembly. The community has so far spent approximately $4,500 of its microgrant.

    The project, which is about 60% complete, is primarily meant to augment health care delivery, especially with regards to maternal health services.

    “We’re done with the construction of the main building, and we’re left with a few works then we go to the roofing and plastering stages. So far, so good”, the Assembly member said in an interview.

    For Obed Ofori Ansah, the Mmranteεhene of Asikam (chief of young men): “This project is really coming at the right time because the practice where our women travel to Kyebi and sometimes to Koforidua for ante-natal and post-natal health services will soon be a thing of the past.”

    He is therefore calling on the residents of the town to continue with their communal assistance to ensure the timely completion of the project.

    The Asikam maternity block project at the lintel level

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  • ACA trains university students in citizen science approaches to soil and plant analysis

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    More than 60 soil science students and technicians at the University of Ghana have benefitted from a three-day workshop on community-based agricultural science.  Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA) organized the workshop with the university’s Department of Soil Science from 10 to 12 May, with the aim of “Enhancing the capacity of scientists for community service.”

    The participants, who were mainly MSc and PhD students and technicians attached to the faculty, learned traditional soil and plant analysis techniques, but through a community participation lens. 

    ACA’s Science Advisor, Dr. Kwabina Ibrahim, taught participants how to involve community members in the design of sampling protocols, discussed the presentation of technical data to communities, and the importance of validating results with local communities to ensure accuracy and uptake.

     

     

     “This very workshop has enlightened me on a lot of things, especially with regards to how to involve a community in a science study,” said soil science PhD student Isaac Lartey Tawiah enthusiastically. “This participatory approach in the sampling process will ensure that the community members will accept and appreciate the results because they were involved in the process.”

    Kwame Ocloo, an MPhil student in Soil Science, concurred.  “The training was very helpful.  We learned how to take the cell properties that we’re testing for in the field and apply the results of those tests to the farmers, how to explain to the farmers the meaning of those properties,” he said.

     

     

    For Grace Karikari Akofo, a Technical Staff of the Material Science and Engineering Department, the program could not have come at a better time.  “This is my first time of hearing about community science, and I think it’s something that will help me professionally as I will be able to interact with non-scientists, especially those without any training in science,” she noted.  “When sharing sampling outcomes with a community, there is no need to use jargon. Rather, one must find innovative ways of breaking those jargons into simple and clearer messages with the help of chats when communicating with the people.”

    At the close of the training, Dr. Daniel Etsey Dodor, the Head of the Department of Soil Science, expressed his gratitude to ACA for the opportunity for students and staff of the university to share knowledge and broaden their horizon on community-centered approaches to soil related issues and hoped that similar workshops would be organized in his department in the years to come.

     

    Dr. Ibrahim, the ACA Science Advisor, expressed his organization’s commitment to collaborating with scientists to assist communities with scientific knowledge.

    “Community participation in the production of scientific knowledge about their land, soil, and water is key to ensuring that they are in control of their own future, especially when they come under threat from extractive activities,” said Dr. Ibrahim.  “ACA is thankful to the University of Ghana and the Department of Soil Science for helping us to ensure that young scientists are prepared to involve communities in their fieldwork.”

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  • 10 years on, Zoghota Massacre survivors still struggle to get justice

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    Survivors of an August 2012 attack against the village of Zoghota, Guinea by state security forces organized a press conference  last month on the 10-year anniversary of the attack to demand that the Republic of Guinea comply with an order issued by the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja in 2020 to pay 4.56 billion Guinean francs (then approximately 436,000 U.S. dollars) to victims of the attack and their families.

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    Frédéric Loua, a lawyer at the Guinean human rights organization Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous (MDT) spoke representing the community at the conference saying, “the victims of the Zoghota massacre ask the Guinean state to immediately and without delay pay the amount of the sentence pronounced by the ECOWAS Court of Justice and to have those presumed responsible for the massacre judged for individual criminal responsibility.” The Zoghota people used this opportunity to renew their resolve to pursue all avenues in Guinea and internationally to hold their government accountable for the massacre.

    The order came as a result of a court case filed in 2018, after the community’s cases were repeatedly stalled and ignored in Guinean courts.

    Loua, pictured above at the press conference, has accompanied the people of Zoghota since the day of the attack. On Loua’s first visit to Zoghota on August 1, 2012, homes were still smoldering from fires the attackers had set only hours before. At that time the village of Zoghota in southeastern Guinea bordered an iron ore exploration site controlled by VBG, a mining company owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale and BSG Resources. Conflicts had arisen between the company and community over mining activities causing environmental damage, unfulfilled promises to employ local youth, and alleged mismanagement of VBG’s royalty payments intended for community development. The local communities also reported that they did not give the free and informed consent before the company set itself up in the area.

     

    Around 1:00 AM on August 4, 2012 – the night before the government was to meet with the community to discuss these conflicts – state security forces attacked Zoghota, firing bullets and tear gas. Five villagers were killed that night and a sixth later died of his injuries. More than a dozen villagers were arrested, some of whom were tortured by gendarmes. Homes and other buildings were torched, and almost the entire village fled. 

     

    One month later, Loua and MDT supported the community to file the first in a series of lawsuits against the individual police, gendarme, and military officers accused of carrying out the attack and their accomplice VBG, accused of supplying materials used in the attack.

     

    These cases have since been shuffled between Guinea’s civilian and military courts, languishing for years while the courts have allowed witnesses and defendants to ignore or flee from subpoenas, much to the dismay of Zoghota survivors and their lawyers. “After all that we had done, there was no justice. The state had no will to shine a light on what had happened,” Loua said.

     

    Faced with national court systems unwilling or unable to deliver justice to the victims, the community turned to the ECOWAS Court of Justice in 2018 to hold the Republic of Guinea responsible for the massacre, torture, and illegal detention of the people of Zoghota.

     

    In November 2020, the Court ruled the Republic of Guinea was responsible for violating the Zoghota villagers’ rights to life; to be free of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; to not be subject to arbitrary arrest or detention; and to an effective remedy. A year after the Court had ordered Guinea to pay compensation to the victims, the Zoghota community appealed to the ECOWAS Commission to enforce the ruling.

    While Guinea’s government continues to ignore the ECOWAS ruling despite several meetings and advocacy, the people of Zoghota are tired of waiting for justice. Stymied at the state level, the community is ready to once again turn to international legal systems to enforce the ECOWAS ruling.

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  • NGO supports development in Fanteakwa

    Published by the Daily Times

    Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit making organisation, is spearheading the implementation of Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP) in all the 34 key towns in the Fanteakwa South district as part of efforts to deeply involve communities in the planning and execution of development projects.

    In partnership with the Fanteakwa South District Assembly, FCAP is being implemented as a community driven development tool that keeps decision-making and community development in the hands of the local community members.

    It was adopted by ACA from ‘Spark Micro-grants’, a partner NGO in East Africa (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo), and is currently the development pattern used by the Rwandan government to develop the country.

    FCAP takes a maximum of three years in each partner community to fully implement a project, and has three main phases, namely planning, implementation and post-implementation.

    Pilot cases

    For over a year now, ACA been piloting this process in two communities in the Fanteakwa South district, namely Juaso and Nsuapemso, in partnership with the Assembly.

    Following the success of the application of FCAP in these areas, ACA has extended its coverage to all 34 communities of the district on a 60-40 percent deal. ACA will provide 60% of micro grant, which is the cedi equivalent of $9,000.00, in all 34 communities of the district while the district Assembly takes up the remaining 40%.

    Launching the FCAP at a town hall meeting held recently at Osino, the district capital, the Community Development Manager of ACA responsible for West Africa, Nana Ama Nketia Quaidoo, said it was extremely important for intended beneficiaries of every development project to be deeply involved from the scratch rather than just putting up the project for them.

    “If you have any intent of executing any development for me, engage me and let me determine what I want. So, you don’t just wake up and decide that you want to build a hospital, or school or a chapel when I, the intended user/beneficiary, don’t know anything about it,” she explained.

    “How did you know that I need a chapel? What makes you think that the location of the market is at the preferred place? These are some of the issues that hinder effective local governance in Ghana and Africa,” she again said.

    Madam Nketia Quaidoo observed that successive governments sometimes tout their achievements by mentioning a lot of infrastructural projects executed without knowing that the supposed beneficiaries do not seem to resonate with these projects because they were not involved in their implementation.

    This, she further explained, informed ACA’s decision to adopt the Facilitated Collective Action Process, which deeply involves the people in the planning and execution of any project in their community and avoids white elephant projects.

    She expressed the hope that FCAP will help drive community-driven approach in project implementation while reducing the impacts of mining on the local people.

    Read about Advocates for Alternatives on the News via https://dailystatesman.com.gh/ngo-supports-development-in-fanteakwa/