GENERAL

AMA holds inception meeting for 12 YCAF initiative awardees

An inception meeting has been held by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) for the twelve (12) awardees of the Youth Climate Action Fund (YCAF) Initiative which is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies to provide participants with technical training on elements of the project.

Date Created : 8/13/2024 : Story Author : Susana Danso/Ghanadistricts.com

The one-day program which was held at the Accra City Hall on Wednesday covered areas such as best practices in project reporting and the releasing of funds, among others.

In a brief address, the Mayor of Accra, Madam Elizabeth Kwatsoe Sackey congratulated the selected recipients of the fund stressing the need to be innovative in their respective projects.

Using her achievements in life as a case study, the first female Mayor of the City of Accra encouraged the awardees, especially the women, to take advantage of the opportunity being provided to make an impact on residents of the city stating that, “the sky is just not your limit but a stepping stone.”

Project Manager for YCAF Initiative, Bernard Boakye, in an interview, explained the essence of the meeting emphasizing that, “today’s program is about meeting the youth who have won the grants and brief them on the rules of engagement.”

He added, “We looked at the monitoring and evaluation framework and then again we looked at how money is going to be disbursed and how they were to report to us.”

Mr. Boakye further added that all the projects that were submitted were very good; however, looking at the priorities of the Assembly, these 12 were chosen.

Maxwell Odonkor, Founder and Executive Director of World Inspiring Network and a beneficiary of the grant who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, expressed gratitude for the opportunity assuring that they would put in their maximum best.

“Coming from humble beginnings, many of us didn't have the chance to see women rise to such impactful positions, so we are particularly inspired by the work our Mayor is doing for us,” he added.

The Youth Climate Fund Initiative is about empowering youth between the ages of 18-24 to be able to take initiatives that can help mitigate the effect of climate change within our society. In total, about 31 participants applied for this project and out of it, 12 people were allowed to implement their identified projects.

The selected 12 would receive grants ranging from 2000 to 5000 US dollars.

Also present at the meeting were the Presiding Member of the AMA, Mr. Alfred Asiedu Adjei, the Metro Coordinating Director, Douglas N.K Annoful, the Head of the Procurement Unit, Delali Alorwu Narh and other officials of the Assembly.