Achimota (Greater Accra Region) 23, Sept. Miss Sirpa Utriainen (Ed correct)), Secretary-General of the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), today urged NGOs to know the needs of their target groups and disseminate information that would serve those needs. “To know what we should communicate, we first need to learn the needs of our target groups – our clients”, she said. Miss Utrainen was speaking at the opening of a five-day workshop aimed at developing communication skills of NGOs at Achimota. Organised by ICSW, a Canadian NGO with 190 affiliates, the workshop is being attended by 70 participants drawn from nine countries including Ghana, Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa. Others are Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Canada. In his welcoming address, Mr. George Ahadzie, an executive member of ICSW, said though most ngos provide services in health, nutrition and environment, inappropriate information techniques are used to communicate ”hence people do not understand what it is all about”. He said in communities where the level of literacy is low, it becomes necessary to find very simple and effective ways of communicating new ideas to promote development. Mr. Ahadzie said the success of the workshop can only be measured “by the way we help to improve upon the quality of life of the people”. Mr. Needyand Raya (rpt. Needyand Raya), Co-ordinator, ICSW, Africa region, stressed the importance of information dissemination saying sound and appropriate communication is imperative for Africa.
