By Rachel Kakraba and Abigail Nyahe
The Ghana Red Cross Society is calling on more benevolent organizations and individuals to come on board and support its humanitarian operations across the country.
The Society says while it continues to respond to emergencies and provide essential aid to vulnerable communities, support from individuals has not been sufficient to meet the growing demand for assistance, hence the need for increased collaboration to expand reach.
Jeremiah Afako, the Head of Programmes and Disaster Manager, Ghana Red Cross Society, speaking during a media workshop in Accra, indicated that securing additional support will position the Society to better deliver on its mandate of saving lives, alleviating suffering, and promoting humanitarian values nationwide.
“There are a lot of health emergencies, there are a lot of disasters waiting to happen, epidemics and all that. If we get a lot of funding, we are able to train volunteers to be able to respond to these situations or whatever activities that we want to do, it would help us with our activities. So we need a lot of benevolent organizations to come on board to help us”
He said the Society remains committed to its mandate of the establishment of alleviating human suffering, a reason it will continuously respond to disasters and other health emergencies for especially the most vulnerable.
“We are mandated by Act 10 of Parliament to do what we do as a humanitarian organization. So our main aim is to alleviate the suffering of human beings. So wherever there’s an emergency, wherever there’s a disaster, wherever there’s an epidemic, you will see us there”
Mr. Afako, highlighted the importance of collaboration between the Ghana Red Cross Society and the media, noting that the engagement offered an opportunity to better understand the media’s perspective, to help improve communication and strengthen future partnerships.
Rebecca Ekpe, Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association, GJA, warned journalists against the spread of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech which she noted could have an impact on individuals and society as a whole during disasters.
“The spread of hate and harmful information affects the overall wellbeing of individuals thereby further aggravating the issue”
She highlighted the Association’s stance on the spread of harmful information stating that perpetrators will be brought to book for engaging in such acts.
“When it comes to GJA’s position, on misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, media practitioners who are caught in the act will be called out and shamed”.
Madam Ekpe, further stated that the chapter 12 of the 1992 constitution accords journalists freedom of speech, stressing that such freedom comes with responsibility.
“Chapter 12 of the constitution gives us the mandate to promote freedom of expression but part of the chapter talks about responsible journalism and we need to be mindful of that”, she said.
She explained that the responsibility of journalists is to disseminate critical information during a disaster in order to help mitigate pain but not to worsen the pains of the affected individuals.
“The role of journalists in disseminating information during critical periods is to mitigate pain, therefore, whatever information.
From its founding days in 1859, the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, responds rapidly and efficiently to provide humanitarian protection and assistance to those suffering the devastating effects of armed conflict.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, IFRC, on the other hand also acts in countries during disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people.
The Ghana Red Cross Society was established in 1929 and is the largest volunteer-based humanitarian service organization in the country.
It works in close partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Interior Ministry. With about 66 thousand volunteers working across the country, volunteers trained in first aid, disaster management, water and sanitation, and health to ultimately respond to emergencies.
