Damongo, July 19, GNA - The Coordinator of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Localisation Project, Mr Nicholas Amponsah, has called on communities that would benefit from the MDGs framework not to see it as a burden but to use it as a tool to reduce poverty.

They should therefore adapt global and national MDGs targets to suit the local context by identifying and prioritising MDGs to meet their needs and aspirations.

Mr Amponsah made the call at the launch of the MDGs Localisation Project at Damongo for the West Gonja District on Tuesday.

The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), an NGO in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and West Gonja District Assembly, launched the Project.

Mr Amponsah said for the MDGs to be achieved at the national and local levels, there was the need for political commitment to effectively mobilise the people to take up the ownership of the project.

He said the involvement of the local authorities would create

more awareness towards achieving the MDGs targets

especially in poverty reduction and improve institutional

performance in service delivery. Mr Franklin Asamoah-Mensah, Portfolio Coordinator of

SNV, said MDGs have become the guide for administering

development assistance to developing countries and

measuring progress towards poverty reduction. He said the project would provide an opportunity for the

district assembly and its partners and other stakeholders in the

district to understand the MDGs to assess their relevance to

the West Gonja District and set up structures towards the

localisation of the MDGs in the district.