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AMA to support waste collectors to form cooperatives under ICAP

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has been implementing the Inclusive Climate Action Programme (ICAP) to strengthen partnership with the informal waste collectors to form cooperatives.

Date Created : 3/31/2023 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : Samuel Dodoo/Ghanadistricts.com

It also expanded opportunities for the waste collectors’ participation and integration into the ICAP plans to develop a business case for investment in a community waste facility.

This includes supporting informal waste workers to establish cooperative units which would become the vehicle to participate in the city’s waste contracting processes, providing support for migrants within the informal waste sector in the Assembly’s infrastructural project development.

Mr. Solomon Noi, Director of waste Management Department of the AMA, who deputised for Madam Elizabeth Kwaotsoe Sackey, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, made this known to the Ghana News Agency in Accra at the city-led stakeholders meeting to engage key informal sector players and academia, government and civil society groups.

The meeting aimed to show progress with support from C40 Cities on the city’s action on informal sector inclusion and integration through the implementation of ICAP plan, provide a supplementary space for interdepartmental collaboration on the future of the city’s action on waste informal engagement and disseminate key advocacy materials produced to support the integration goals.

He said successes recorded during the implementation of the ICAP programme had influenced the Assembly’s decision to partner workers in the city’s informal waste value chain to scale up plastic separation in Accra.

“This is important as it will not only contribute to getting rid of filth in Accra but impacts and helps to improve the health of our communities, reduce waste burning, as well as promoting environmental and economic benefits,” he stated.

Madam Josephine Agbeko, Inclusive Climate Action City Advisor for C40 Cities, said ICAP developed a working paper to make the case for integrating waste workers into the local economies by showcasing compelling and transformational actions.

She said this action was in line with the city's vision to create a fair and resilient city and support the delivery of the Climate Action Plan and Resilience Strategy.

“The informal waste sector engagement policy aims to address the underlying challenges within the local economy, such as precarious employment, absence of social protection, harassment, criminalization and others,” she stated.

She said it also aimed to ensure that the city of Accra had consistent, relevant, and meaningful policy references to support inclusion and equity in its climate action implementation.

“The contribution of informal waste actors in Accra is an important action for achieving Accra’s waste optimization goals and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the city, which had become an issue of concern for survival for population at both national and international debates,” she said.