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Nigeria, Ghana, six others receive $1.96m to tackle fistula disorder

Posted by Prudence Journal December 7, 2023
Nigeria, Ghana
ECOWAS MEMBER STATES

Nigeria, Ghana, and six other member countries of the Economic Community of West African States received $1.96 million from the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre on Wednesday to tackle fistula disorder.

Fistula disorder is an abnormal connection between organs. Fistulas are usually the result of an injury or surgery.

According to the United States Agency for International Development in 2021, Nigeria accounted for 40 percent of fistula cases worldwide.

USAID also stated that Nigeria reports 13,000 new cases of fistula per year, and as many as 400,000 women languish on waiting lists for corrective surgery.

The countries that got $245,000 each were Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Gambia, and Liberia.

The presentation of cheques to the beneficiaries was one of the highlights at the 91st Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers held in Abuja.

Speaking at the event, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Yusuf Tuggar, stated that the Council would deliberate on the community’s budget for the 2024 fiscal year as the current economic challenges are affecting the region’s gross domestic product and revenue generation.

Tuggar noted, “We must be mindful of the prevailing economic and financial challenges confronting our sub-region, such as inflation, high food prices, and currency devaluation, which have adversely affected our economies.

“These challenges have impacted our gross domestic product, revenue generation, and in particular our mobilisation of the community levy, due to the devaluation of some of our major currencies, particularly Cedi and Naira against the US Dollar.”

In urging the Council Ministers, the minister emphasized the need to support the recommendations of the Administration and Finance Committee for enhancing prudence.

He also emphasized the importance of backing the efforts of the President of the Commission and other heads of the institutions in preventing leakages to ensure the judicious use of limited resources.

Furthermore, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, expressed concern that member states under sanctions have ceased remitting levies. He highlighted the crucial requirement for ECOWAS to have sufficient financial resources to address the challenges facing the region.
Touray noted the longstanding challenge in collecting the 0.5% ECOWAS levy on imports from outside the Community, with issues arising in depositing these funds into ECOWAS bank accounts and accessing them.
The current situation, exacerbated by member states under sanctions withholding the levy, has led to a decline in resource mobilization.
Given the growing difficulties in the financial situation, Touray called on the Councils of Ministers to fully mobilize the levy. This, he emphasized, is crucial for implementing the community work program and sustaining ECOWAS’ successes.
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