The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has made an appeal to individuals, institutions and cooperate bodies to support it with the necessary logistics to effectively educate the public on the Coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Nicolas Ofori Boateng, Central Regional Director of the NCCE who made the appeal emphasisied that they needed funds and logistics and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during its COVID-19 education campaign.
He said the NCCE was the only constitutionally mandated body to educate citizens on their civic rights and responsibilities and therefore must be supported to sensitise the public on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Ofori Boateng who made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Cape Coast said “The Commission needs support from individuals, institutions and other corporate bodies in the form of funds, PPEs and other logistics for our operations”.
He said in many instances, after educating the public on the COVID-19, their expectation was that the Commission would provide them with face masks, hand sanitizers and Veronica buckets.
The NCCE in the region prior to the ban on social gatherings had educated the citizenry to understand and follow the health and safety protocols to fight the pandemic.
The Regional NCCE undertook 320 engagements with communities, faith-based organisations, educational institutions and other identifiable groups and was now using community information centres and FM stations to disseminate information on the pandemic to the public.
The Church of Pentecost partnered the Commission and provided a mobile cinema van to reach out to many communities with its COVID-19 messages in an expected to reach about 1,000 communities before the end.
For effective implementation, he said the Region was divided into six strategic zones with the van spending at least a day in each district and commended the church for its support.
Through the campaign, the public is educated on the nature of the COVID-19 disease and its mode of transmission, common symptoms, various safety protocols against contracting the virus, the implications of the pre-cautionary measures and the Imposition of the Restrictions Act.
Mr Ofori Boateng called on all to adhere to the established safety protocols put forward by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to stem its spread.
He specifically encouraged the public to maintain social and physical distancing, practise respiratory hygiene and stay at home unless it was critically important to go out.
One of the key tasks, he said was to debunk the numerous misinformation and unfounded perceptions in public domain with the right information for public consumption.
By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA
