EU co-funded €1m ImPreSSion project will advance Ghana’s SDGs targets – Director  

The implementation of the European Union co-funded €1million Improving Study Programs in Ghana by Introducing Green Solutions, Sustainability Modules and Digital Transformation (ImPreSSion) project will put Ghana on the edge to achieve some targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

These goals are Goals Two, Six and Seven, Mr. Florian Balmes, the Project Director has said.

The United Nations (UN) Global Goals 2, 6, and 7 enjoin countries around the globe to end hunger, improve access to water and sanitation, as well as access to clean energy respectively, by 2030.

Just about five years to go Mr. Balmes emphasised that clean water and energy as well as sufficient food remained the nexus in achieving sustainable development, and lauded Ghana’s thriving economy, amid her rapid population growth.

The ImPreSSion is a three-year project aimed at improving and updating three study programmes in three Ghanaian public universities that focus on energy, water and agriculture sectors.

The University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), University of Ghana (UG) and the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) are implementing the project to achieve the targets of energy, water and agriculture sectors of the project respectively.

Responding to why Ghana was selected for the project, Mr Balmes said: “Besides looking for new opportunities to collaborate together, we are also looking for partners which focus on water, energy and agriculture because these sectors are key concepts of achieving sustainable development”.

He said: “Ghana is an interesting country because it has different ecological zones, however, it also has a huge variety of challenges in climate change because there is flooding in some places and drought in other places.”

Mr Balmes added: “There will be a great impact because you know we need energy for offering clean water to the local communities and at the same time we need water for sustainable agriculture, and we are happy this consortium is set in Ghana”.

He explained that by enhancing the curriculum, the teaching skills and the infrastructure, ImPreSSion would prepare the Ghanaian future graduates for the market, and for making a positive impact in society.

Professor Elvis Asare-Bediako, the Vice Chancellor of the UENR, also told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the university was driven by its mandate to build partnerships and develop programmes that could tackle emerging challenges.

He observed that agriculture, water and energy remained vital sectors for the nation’s sustainable development and lauded the project implementation and commended the thanked the funders as well.

Earlier, Prof Nana Sarfo Agyeman Derkyi, the UENR’s Pro Vice Chancellor, and the Project Lead, noted the country was one of the emerging African countries, experiencing both strong population growth and economic progress.

He said the implementation of the project would prepare graduates adequately for the job market, equipping them with up-to-date knowledge and thereby helping to tackle real problems in those three sectors.

Source: GNA

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