Gub-Katimali Rolls Out 3-Year Project On Mental Illness

In Ghana, the majority of people who should determine and benefit from development processes are rather among those most excluded in development efforts. This has resulted in the type of development pursued not addressing the real needs of the poorest and most vulnerable groups such as men and women with mental illness or epilepsy and their care-givers as well as peasant farmers.

Accordingly, the European Commission is supporting four Ghanaian local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) including Gub-Katimali Society; Zuuri Organic Vegetable Farmers Association; Centre for People’s Empowerment and Rights Initiatives and Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG) to implement a three-year project (13^th October, 2011 to 12^th October, 2014) intended to contribute to ensuring people-centered development that meets the needs and aspirations of the majority of the population, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.

mentally ill woman at a healing camp

With an estimated amount of 471, 029 Euros of which 90% (423,926 Euros) is funded by the European Commission, the project would target 20 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the three Regions of the North – Upper West, Upper East and Northern as well as the Greater Accra Region. The 20 MMDAs include Central Gonja, East Mamprusi, Bunkprugu-Yunyoo, Nanumba South, Tamale Metropolis, Bawku West, Builsa, Wa, Lambussie-Karni, Ayawaso Sub-metro, Okaikoi Sub-metro, Ashiedu-Keteke Sub-metro and Ablekum Sub-metro areas.

The project, dubbed “Promoting an Inclusive and Empowered Civil Society to advance Socio-Economic and Political Development in Ghana” aimed to build an inclusive and empowered civil society well aware of their needs and rights, including existing and contemplated public policies and programmes and increase their debate and, lobby and advocate in their favour.

The lack of meaningful consultation on public policy formulation and dissemination of policies, have mostly led to the exclusion of the needs of most vulnerable groups and communities. This could be attributed to infrastructural and financial constraints, stigma and the failure to harness the mass media especially local radio stations in dissemination of government policy formulation and implementation.

This project, therefore, aimed to reverse the aforesaid situation in the target or beneficiary districts by contributing to increasing awareness and capacities of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) of men and women with mental illness or epilepsy (PWIME), men and women with disabilities (PWDs), women, youth and farmer groups to influence policy planning and implementation.

According to the Executive Director of Gub-Katimali Society, a nonprofit and nonpartisan NGO   based in the Northern Region, Sheik Yakubu Abdul-Kareem in an interview with Savannahnews, the project would focus on training and action research to identify the most effective methods to be used by civil society to influence policy. With the resulting increase in participation in local advocacy of such an array of people’s organizations, prevailing stigma associated with mental disorders, physical disabilities, gender-based discrimination and unbalanced power relations, he said would significantly be reduced and policy makers would begin to take account of the needs and rights of these groups.

Sheik Abdul-Kareem also explained that under the project, policy makers at the local level would have their capacity built to enable them to effectively respond to the demands of vulnerable groups and ensure their needs were met by incorporating them in the Districts Medium Term Development Plans (DMTPs) and the implementation of other relevant policies.

The project, he noted would further ensure regional alliances of NGOs and government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) so that they would be aware of the decentralization structure/systems and the DMTPs framework, and be better informed to monitor local policy implementation and complement CBOs advocacy.

Target beneficiaries

About one hundred CBOs comprising of 20 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of PWIME and their primary carers; 20 other districts and region-based DPOs; 20 women’s groups; 20 youth groups; 20 vocational/trade-skills development associations; altogether with a total of 3200 individual participants are being targeted.

Other targets of the project include 100 frontline staff from 20 MMDAs; 40 Members of Parliament from the target project areas; 240 members of 4 regional alliances for Mental Health and Development. Besides, an estimated 16000 people from the 20 MMDAs across the four regions made up of the 3200 direct participants and an estimated 12800 families and communities would benefit from this project.

It is expected that by the end of the project, best practices for engaging disadvantaged civil society groups would have been well documented, widely disseminated and adopted/adapted.

Also, 20 SHGs of PWIME, 20 community-based women, 20 disability, 20 youth and 20 farmer groups would effectively participate in decision-making processes; and the 20 MMDAs in the target regions effectively respond to mental health and other social development issues to improve quality of life of the poorest and most vulnerable people, their families and communities.

Moreover, regional networks of local NGOs and MDAs would have been strengthened to advocate as an effective alliance for Mental Health Development.

So far so good

Sheik Abdul-Kareem disclosed that so far, Gub-Katimali has built the capacities of 84 CBOs, SHGs and PWDs on rights based advocacy and public speaking as well as create awareness of mental health issues for CBOs and PWDs in the MMDAs in the Northern Region.

Gub-Katimali has also been able to bring together Planning Officers, Budget Officers and Presiding Members of the MMDAs to sensitise them to plan for the poor and vulnerable groups in their districts, he said, adding that the organization would use community live drama, posters or other means to educate the public about mental health in subsequent activities.

A grassroots development organization founded in 1991 to help promote rural development in Northern Ghana, Gub-Katimali seeks to sensitise, empower and enable local communities to realize their own development through collective participation, partnership and pooling local resources together for sustainable development.

Gub-Katimali currently operates in 9 MMDAs in the Northern Region and has since its establishment and with the support of its partners such as Trull Foundation, Charity of Rebecca and Hope for Children, supported over 70 students some of whom have completed tertiary and secondary education. It has also supported children with mental illness to enroll in or go back to school after stabilizing, and provided their parents with small ruminants to rear in order to cater for the children’s education.