Program Intervention Areas
Quality Health For All Program
A.R.E's quality health for all program aims at promoting access to quality health care, health information and the adoption of healthy lifestyles in rural Ghana. The program focuses on promoting HIV and malaria education, school hygiene, reproductive health. The Health Education Awareness and Literature (HEAL) project is a successful intervention under the Quality Health for All program. HEAL has been running for six years now in over 90 communities and 60 rural schools.
"HEAL" project: The Health Education, Awareness and Literature (HEAL) project adopts a practical approach towards HIV/AIDS and other social health problems based on the principle of capacity building and grassroots participation in mapping out strategies and executing a local action against HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy at the school and community level. Under the program, community Health clubs (CHCs) and School Health Clubs (SHCs) are formed and made operational to spearhead HIV peer education in schools and communities. Community Health Education Action Plans (CHEAPs) and School Health Education Action Plans (SHEAP) are developed after PLA sessions HIV , which serve as a local blue print for communities and students in their advocacy campaigns against HIV/AIDS.
As part of the HEAL project, A.R.E is currently managing the Ghana AIDS Commission's Multi Sector HIV Partnerships intervention in nine districts in the Central Region. The project, involves grassroots capacity building and advocacy on HIV with a focus on prevention, Voluntary Counseling and Testing and Promoting Safer sexual lifestyles. Ghana AIDS Commission is providing 100,000 GHC for the project in 2010, after committing 50,000 GHC in the second half of 2009.
The Health Education, Awareness and Literature (HEAL) project adopts a practical approach towards HIV/AIDS and other social health problems based on the principle of capacity building and grassroots participation in mapping out strategies and executing a local action against HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy at the school and community level. Under the program, community Health clubs (CHCs) and School Health Clubs (SHCs) are formed and made operational to spearhead HIV peer education in schools and communities.
Community Health Education Action Plans (CHEAPs) and School Health Education Action Plans (SHEAP) are developed after PLA sessions HIV , which serve as a local blue print for communities and students in their advocacy campaigns against HIV/AIDS. As part of the HEAL project, A.R.E is currently managing the Ghana AIDS Commission's Multi Sector HIV Partnerships intervention in nine districts in the Central Region. The project, involves grassroots capacity building and advocacy on HIV with a focus on prevention, Voluntary Counseling and Testing and Promoting Safer sexual lifestyles. Ghana AIDS Commission is providing 100,000 GHC for the project in 2010, after committing 50,000 GHC in the second half of 2009.
Promoting Accountable Governance In Education (PAGE)
The Promoting Accountable Governance in Education, locally called "Adezesua Mu Nkontabuo" is a one year project being implemented by Action for Rural Education in the Mfantsiman Municipality with funding from the Partnership for Transparency Fund (USA). The project conceptualizes the effective participation of SMC/PTA's in the development, implementation and monitoring of education budgets (S-PIP) and in the allocation and distribution of education resources especially textbooks and exercise books as a means of promoting transparency and accountability in education resource allocation, distribution and utilization. Education Resource accountability is complimented with efficient record keeping regulations at the stores department of the Ghana Education (GES) Service and at the school.
Two ARE Political Governance Projects Launched in 2012
The Education Agenda 2015 Project
Child Rights and ARE to implement the Education Agenda 2015 Project: Child Rights International in partnership with ARE is implementing the Education Agenda 2015 Project with funding from DfID through STAR Ghana. Under the project, ARE will develop through nationwide consultation, a Civil Society Manifesto on Education for engagement with Political Parties in the 2012 political season. STAR Ghana is committing USD 120,000 towards the project.
The Strengthening Local Governance Project 2012:
ARE with funding from USAID is implementing the Strengthening Local Governance Project in the Ellembelle District in Western Region. The project is part of the Local Governance and Development Program (LOGODEP) being implemented by MSI in collaboration with SNV and aims at strengthening engagement between Unit Committees, Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service to improve the quality of education and health governance in five electoral areas in the Ellembelle District. Under the partnership, ARE is providing capacity support and facilitating the use of Community Score Cards by Unit Committees and Assemblymen in five electoral areas in Aiyinasi, to monitor the quality of education and health delivery and engage duty bearers on how to improve quality and access to education and health.
A.R.E- Internship Project
The A.R.E internship project currently operates under the Quality Health For All program. A.R.E. has over the past seven years been collaborating with the Warwick University in U.K to organize an internship program for Second year medical students to come and work on HI/AIDS projects in rural communities and clinics in the Central Region. Since 2003, A.R.E has hosted 35 interns who successfully worked in over 35 communities and five clinics in Ghana.
Promoting access to quality basic education remains a core mandate of A.R.E. A.R.E's EFA program aims at advocating for the removal of inequities in the provision of quality education and the promotion of universal access to basic education in rural communities. The program
advocates the implementation of equitable policies in education service delivery, focusing on marginalized populations, including rural children, girls and the disabled. The program also aims at strengthening the capacity of local communities to advocate quality basic education by participating and influencing the allocation and distribution of education resources as well as monitoring the implementation of education plans and budgets at the local level. This includes influencing the distribution of teachers, Teaching and Learning Materials, and school infrastructure.
HIPC Watch
A.R.E in partnership with the SEND foundation of West Africa mobilized and facilitated rural communities to track the utilization of the HIPC funds in Ghana. Grassroots CSO's were resourced to monitor expenditures and work on education, health and sanitation projects funded by the HIPC initiative at the community and district level, after which outcomes were used to engage government on the need for judicious utilization of HIPC funds the execution of shoddy infrastructure contracts by contractors engaged by District Assemblies.. The outcomes of HIPC watch project was a useful input in Civil Society's position on AID Effectiveness during the Aid Effectiveness Forum in Accra, 2009.
AICQUBE Project
The Advocacy for Increased Community Participation in Quality Basic Education-AICQUBE project is a component of the A.R.E-EFA program intervention. The project has been running since 2005 in the Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira District of the Central Region. AICQUBE combines advocacy and service delivery to curb child labour in cocoa growing communities, promote transparency and accountability in school governance and promote full access to quality basic education.
The first three years f the project was funded by the Commonwealth Education Fund (U.K), a consortium Comprising DfID, ActionAid (UK), Oxfam (GB), Save the Child (U.K) and Cadburys Sweppes (U.K)., after which the District Assembly in partnership with A.R.E has sustained funding till date. AICQUBE has empowered School Management Committees to track the utilization of the Capitation Grant and take part in the preparation education budgets at the local and community level.
A major success of the project is the Rural Education Volunteers component, which recruited 36 secondary school leavers from 16 deprived communities, trained them and placed them in their own communities to assist in teaching, since there were no teachers. The first batch of about 24 teachers recruited in 2005, under AICQUBE 1, have graduated as trained teachers under a sandwich program (Untrained Teacher Training Diploma in Basic Education-UTTDBE)
This program has been supported by A.R.E and the Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira District Assembly. The project is currently being replicated in remote parts of the country, where teachers refuse postings.
