CIDA extends more support for district capacity building

Tamale, May 06, GNA - The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has given 2.8 million dollars for the District Capacity Building Project (DISCAP) in the Northern Region, Upper East and Upper West regions.

For the past five years CIDA and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development have been supporting the DICAP with seven million dollars in 24 districts in the three northern regions with the goal of improving governance and ensuring that most water and sanitation systems are operated and maintained using local and national resources.

Madam Anna Maria Scoti, a Senior Programmed officer of CIDA, announced the extension of the assistance at a two-day Project Steering Committee meeting in Tamale on Thursday.

Mr Mohammed Amin Adam, the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, stressed the importance of decentralised management of water supply and commended the DISCAP Project for establishing training programmes that would enable the rural people to operate and maintain their own water supply systems.

Among some notable achievements that CIDA has made since the inception of DICAP include the institutionalisation of four courses in water management at training institutions in the north, mainstreaming gender into district assemblies through support to Gender Desk officers and gender support networks and the development and implementation of district gender strategies.

Others are the development of a decentralised monitoring and evaluation system that builds upon the National Development Planning Commission guidelines and strengthening of the regional planning and coordinating units.