SIMAVI, a public health organization, has provided funds for the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) to help address the problem of reproductive health rights in the country.

SIMAVI is a public health organization that believes that everyone has a right to good health and it implements programmes that aims at prevention of diseases and offers better care for pregnant women and mothers in sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia.

ISODEC, an NGO working for sustainable human development through the empowerment of the poor would, among other things, empower its partners, especially those in the health sector to embark on a comprehensive education on reproductive health.

ISODEC and its implementing partners and other key stakeholders such as the Ghana Health Service are implementing the Family Reproductive Health Project aimed at reaching remote communities in the three northern regions.

The goal is to improve the sexual and reproductive health rights and needs of disadvantaged groups, especially young people and poor women of reproductive age.

Speaking at the launch of the programme in Tamale on Thursday, Mr. Zakaria Yakubu, Director of Programmes at ISODEC, expressed regret at the dwindling financial aid for NGOs and stressed the need for effective utilization of any available funds for projects.

He said due to lack of funding, most NGOs in the country had collapsed and that there was the need for ISODEC partners to get the value for money to ensure the sustenance of the NGO.

He said ISODEC had 12 partners when it started operation and that the number had dwindled to four and that even then the NGO had managed to get funding for only one year from SIMAVI.

Dr. Kofi Issah, Deputy Upper West Regional Director of Health Services who is a consultant to the programme, called on ISODEC and its partners to ensure that the end result of the programme would benefit the target group.

He said there was the need for NGOs, especially ISODEC to do things differently by going down to the people, assess their needs and provide the necessary information to ensure that the people accepted their messages.

Chief Naa Alhassan Issahaku Amadu, Regional Director of the National Population Council who chaired the function, lauded ISODEC for the programme since reproductive health was a problem in the Northern Region.

He said the achievement of the MDG 5 was paramount for the progress of the country and that it needed the concerted effort of all to ensure that the people had quality healthcare.

Some of the partners expressed their frustration about the way some traditional leaders in some communities frown on sex education that makes the fight to address reproductive health issues very difficult.