The German International Development Cooperation (GIZ) has partnered with some major mining companies to build economic and health resilience for pandemics, including COVID-19, and beyond.
GIZ and its mining partners, including Golden Star Wassa Limited (GSWL), are investing €13 million in various projects to run concurrently for three years.
Menstrual health
As part of the GIZ health programme, dubbed “Pandemic Management in Catchment Communities in Times of COVID-19 & Beyond”, Golden Star recently donated sanitary towels to 1,162 females in 14 basic schools in the Wassa area.
In a release, Gold Star said the year-long distribution programme was being coordinated by the Wassa East District Health Directorate, and would see 1,162 pupils and students receive a set of sanitary pads every month for the period.
This was after the company organised a forum and a float for all basic schools in its host communities to create awareness on menstrual hygiene under the theme: “Making menstruation a normal fact of life”.
Forum
The forum at Daboase, the district capital, discussed and promoted access to science-based information about menstruation and hygiene.
Some of the issues touched on included discrimination and stigma due to the natural process of menstruating.
The Community and Health Coordinator of GSWL, George Amankwah-Kumi, expressed happiness that Golden Star, under a new ownership of Chifeng Jilong Gold, had continued to support the communities.
He said the company continued to collaborate with strategic development partners such as GIZ and the Ghana Health Service to deliver projects with long lasting positive impacts for its host communities.
Partnership
The GIZ partnership to develop health also has Asanko Gold and AngloGold Ashanti working in partnership with the extractive communities in the Western and Ashanti regions.
GSWL said the project was expected to mitigate the negative social impact of COVID-19 and to increase economic and health resilience of communities.
Some of the projects include enrolment onto the National Health Insurance Scheme, COVID-19 vaccination, medical screening and care, financial literacy and improved social protection.
The programme will also benefit staff of the health systems of the various communities and families, it added.