Story | 07 Oct, 2019

IUCN receives special recognition award from the Government of Ghana

On 4th October, 2019, IUCN was honoured with a special recognition award from the Government of Ghana for the organisation’s immense contribution to the REDD+ process in Ghana.

The award was presented by His Excellency the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at a high level launch of the Ghana Cocoa Forest Programme (GCFRP) in Accra-Ghana. The theme for the launch was to reiterate the ambitious goal of the GCFRP i.e. “Achieving 10 Million Tonnes of Emission Reductions in Six Years”.

His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was the special guest of honour and presented the keynote address at the official launch of the GCFRP, which was attended by key stakeholders in the forestry and natural resources sector-Government, Traditional Authorities, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Development Partners, Civil Society, Private Sector, Students and the Media. The contributions of some key institutions to the REDD+ process in Ghana were recognised with the presentation of awards.

IUCN was recognised particularly for our role in advancing the mainstreaming of gender, development of safeguards frameworks as well as strengthening of natural resource governance through our initiatives at the national and landscape level. The IUCN Ghana Country Coordinator- Mrs Saadia Bobtoya Owusu Amofah received the award on behalf IUCN and was accompanied by members of her team at the Ghana project office. Nine other organisations were also recognised. These include: The National House of Chiefs, Olam Cocoa, Touton Ghana, Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), Mondelez International, The Hershey Company, Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC), Ago Eco Institute and the Juabeso Bia HIA Management Board.

The GCFRP is Ghana’s flagship REDD+ programme spearheaded by the Forestry Commission in partnership with the Ghana Cocoa Board and other stakeholders. The programme is targeted at the High Forest Zone with the aim of reducing emissions from the cocoa sector whiles improving livelihoods of farmers through enhanced productivity. The GCFRP was formally accepted into the World Bank’s Carbon Fund pipeline in April 2014 and subsequently, a $50 Million worth Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement (ERPA) was signed in June 2019.

For more information please contact Saadia.Bobtoya@iucn.org