Yendi (N/R), Jan. 24, GNA - The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Miss Ruby Sandhu-Rajon has commended the Regent of Dagbon, Kapankuya-Na Yukubu Abdulai Andani, and the chiefs and people of Dagbon for the peace prevailing in Yendi and the entire Dagbon Traditional Area. She observed that development projects were going on, schools were in session, and traders went about their businesses, while farmers also attended to their farms without fear. Miss Sandhu-Rajon made the commendation when she paid a courtesy call on the regent at his palace in Yendi as part of her visit to inspect United Nations (UN)-funded projects in that part of the Northern Region. She stated that the UN couldn't have operated in Dagbang if there wa= s no peace, and emphasised that no development could be achieved in an atmosphere of insecurity. She appealed to the chiefs and people of Dagbon to continue to maintai= n the prevailing peaceful environment to enable the UN and other development partners to work together to improve their living conditions. The Regent of Dagbon, Kapankuya-Na Yakubu Abdulai Andani, expressed gratitude for the visit of the UN Resident Coordinator to the area. He said since 1994, a lot of development projects including health, education, and water facilities among others, had been jointly provided to a number of communities in the area by the Ghana Government and the UN. According to the Regent, in spite of all those projects the area still had schools under trees, while sanitation also continued to pose a major problem. He said girl-child education was another critical issue in the Municipality that needed intervention because most girls went without forma= l education. The Regent expressed concern about the situation in the Yendi Government Hospital which serves the entire Eastern corridor but lacks enough doctors. Miss Sandhu-Rojon also met and interacted with heads of development organizations and members of the Yendi Municipal Security Council on issues of mutual interest. She indicated that the UN would soon commence its next programme in Ghana, spanning the period 2012 to 2016. She advised the Assembly to include all its requirements in the Medium Term Development Plan instead of making verbal requests, and stressed the need for the Assembly and the UN Agencies to continue to work together for the development of the area. The Yendi Municipal chief Executive, Mr Issah Zakaria stated that with the help of UN agencies, tremendous gains had been made in the area and cited small town water systems at Sang, Guntingli, Kpabia and Zakpalsi, as well as the provision of boreholes in various communities. Mr. Zakaria said this had also addressed one of the fundament perennial problems which the people in the area had had to content with, especially in the dry seasons when streams and wells dried up, adding that it had greatly addressed the incidence of guinea Worm in the Municipality. He said although in 2005/2006 Yendi was classified as one of the guineaworm infested areas, the Municipality did not record any guinea worm case in the last quarter of 2010, and attributed the achievement to UN Agencies, Government of Ghana and other development partners. Mr. Zakaria indicated that for Ghana to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and attain the anticipated Middle income status, the thre= e Northern regions that consistently occupied the bottom position on the development list, should be given serious attention in terms of resource allocation and priority.

He said the construction of a modern lorry park in Yendi township would go a long way to reduce conflict among the various transport unions that often quarrelled among themselves as a result of lack of loading space in the township. The UN Resident Coordinator and her entourage, accompanied by the Municipal Chief Executive, Heads of Department and agencies inspected a clinic under construction with local materials at Malzeri, Mechanized Water system in Sang and other projects within the Municipality.