Ho (Volta Region) 20 April

An international conference on "Agenda 21 and poverty reduction", held at Ho, has recommended the formation of a steering committee to see to the implementation of the principles of the Agenda in the Volta region.

Agenda 21 which was the outcome of the 1992 earth summit in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, is an action programme for the 21st century, which tasks nations to adopt strategies for tackling poverty and promoting sustainable development.

The Ho conference was the result of collaboration between the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Ghana, the Bremen mission in Germany, the Bremen Parliament and the Bremen office for development co-operation. The conference focused on the promotion of small-scale business in Ghana, the challenges for attaining sustainable development by the year 2020, poverty reduction and environment practices for promoting sustainable development.

Other issues discussed were the role of women in promoting sustainable development and appropriate strategies for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government collaboration in addressing poverty reduction and environmental programmes. Delegates gained insight into issues of municipality and Agenda 21 and the implementation of the Agenda in the Southern Africa sub-region.

Professor Jossey-Materu, Urban development and decentralisation specialist from Zimbabwe, called for close collaboration between Ghana and the Southern African region in sharing ideas and experiences in implementing Agenda 21.

The Right Rev Japhet Yao Ledo, Moderator of the EP Church, Ghana, said issues concerning poverty and sustainable development are too complex to be left to government alone to tackle, hence the church's initiatives.

Pastor Erhard Mishe, director of the Bremen Mission said the Mission will help establish an Agenda 21 office in the Volta region.