National Catholic Secretariat (NCS) supports refugees to build and repair adequate shelters by providing shelter materials and technical expertise to build the capacity of refugees in construction of their own shelters.
NCS also ensures that sanitary conditions are maintained in the camps, through Water and Sanitation Committees formed with refugee membership
The National Catholic Secretariat (NCS) has 20 Arch dioceses which cuts across all the 16 regions in Ghana. This extensive presence is further extended to all the districts in Ghana through its Parishes, and thus is able to mobilize and respond to emergency situations. NCS has over 27 years of practical working experience and partnership with UNHCR, and is currently focused on the following main areas of intervention: Health, Education, Water and Sanitation, Shelters, Community Empowerment and Self-reliance through livelihood project.
NCS works through the Ghana Health Service and the Catholic Health Service to provide primary health care to refugees and host community members at the St. Alban’s Health Center in the Fetentaa Refugee Camp. The organization facilitates the enrolment of refugees on the National Health Insurance Scheme and assists with specific medical referral cases to secondary and tertiary levels.
NCS ensures that sanitary conditions are maintained in the camps, through Water and Sanitation Committees formed with refugee membership. NCS ensures regular dislodgements of latrines, pest and vector control, and maintains sanitary conditions on the camp through refugee volunteers who have been trained in appropriate sanitation management. They also ensure maintenance of boreholes and minimum walking distance to access potable water supply to all sections of the camp. NCS initiates actions to improve upon environmental degradation; this includes enhancing drainage situation and ensuring afforestation in order to prevent the serious damage caused by erosion.
The organisation supports refugees to build and repair adequate shelters by providing shelter materials and technical expertise to build the capacity of refugees in construction of their own shelters.
In order to promote self-reliance for Ivorian refugees in the Bono Region, NCS oversees the implementation of livelihood projects including Piggery, Grasscutter farming, and other assistance for some beneficiaries. This project is for those who have expressed interest in rearing animals as main livelihoods and aim at establishing piggery or Grasscutter as ongoing businesses, but do not have the required structures to start.
Apart from engaging with UNHCR on provision of lifesaving humanitarian assistance, NCS has also been involved in the implementation of livelihood and medical support to about 25 vulnerable Togolese refugees in the Volta Region.
NCS has demonstrable ability to fundraise and complement UNHCR funding- fundraising scholarship for PoCs secondary and tertiary education, the starting of agricultural irrigation project and Tailoring Shop for about 30 and 16 refugees respectively. Within this effort is also the extension of special medical care to PoCs with eye, dental and cardiac problems through some external partners.