1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Diocese of Ho was carved out of the Diocese of Keta-Ho on 19th December, 1994, the same day on which the Diocese of Keta-Akatsi and the Diocese of Jasikan were created from the same territory to which they had all belonged. The Diocese of Keta-Ho emanated from the Diocese of Keta, which was carved out of the Vicariate of the Gold Coast, which itself descended from the Vicariate of Dahomey, present day Benin. The Diocese is located in the Volta Region of Ghana and constitutes eleven Administrative Districts, namely: Ho, Kpando and Hohoe municipal areas. Others include, North Dayi, South Dayi, Adaklu, Agortime-Ziope, Ho-West, Afadjato-South Districts, part of Guan district in Oti Region and part of Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region. The Diocese lies within longitudes 12'E and 0 53'E; and latitudes 6 20'N. The Jasikan District lies in the North of the Ho Diocese while it is bordered in the East by the Republic of Togo. The Southern border is shared with Akatsi and North Tongu Districts while the Volta Lake forms the Western boundary. Ho Diocese covers a total land area of 5893 square kilometres. It is divided into 36 Parishes. The vegetation of the diocese is a mix of guinea savannah woodland, forest and forest-savannah transitional zones. The savannah woodlands consist of tall grass with scattered trees including acacia, bamboo and baobabs.
Socio-economic
Agriculture is the main stay of the economy and more than 70% of the total population is heavily engaged in it, with a few numbers of people engaged in fishing and livestock rearing. The major access to land is inheritance, although renting, leasing and share cropping also require land. Farm size is usually small just enough to cater for domestic use. As of the 2021 Population and Housing Census, the Volta Region had a total population of 1,659,040, comprising 52.3 percent women (863,411) and 47.7 percent men (786,112). The age structure highlights a significant youth presence, with 16.5 percent of the population (273,353 individuals) aged 15–24 years. Further disaggregation shows approximately 144,828 children aged 0–4 years and 196,473 aged 5–14 years. These demographics underscore a predominantly youthful population, with important implications for education, skills development, and future labour force participation.
2.0 INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS
Integrated Sustainability Solutions (ISS) was established and registered on the 22nd May 2024 as a Company Limited by Guarantee and has been incorporated under the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) with the number CG-034840524. The main goal is to improve development interventions with sustainable priorities identified jointly with beneficiary communities themselves. This represents a move towards enhancing the best practices and improving the dynamic participatory approaches in which people will control the economic, social, political and cultural processes that affect their lives. It is on this development implementation approach that the ISS structure is further determined and shaped. This process requires external support, to assist in remodelling the best fix operational model, fundraising and human resource development process, as well as in the formulation of a global long-term and medium-term implementation road map based on the ISS strategic plans. This will lead to increased effectiveness, coherence and impact of development interventions for the next 5 years.
Thus, ISS is interested in developing the capacity of schools’ management and further developing selected vocational training institutions in its catchment area for special climate-based agriculture skills training hubs and other professional business start-up hubs.
There is a basic problem with low youth education even though there several Junior Secondary Schools and Primary schools. Most parents are afraid that when they educate children, they will migrate to the cities and leave them, which affects quality of education in general.
Water and sanitation, as in all parts of the Ho Diocese is a major problem. Few villages have pit latrines. Generally, access to potable water and sanitation facilities and waste management is very low. The hospitals are understaffed while others do not have the critical staffing in order to run these facilities sustainably and in particular the children’s wards which are in need of qualified staff. ISS will work with the health facilities in the Diocese to strengthen efficiencies and effectiveness in quality health delivery.
Agriculture is the backbone of the Ho Diocesan economy, yet processing, marketing and storage of agricultural products, as perceived by the ISS is a major problem. There are opportunities for developing integrated agricultural forestry, environmental and organic products processing projects in the Diocese to create alternative incomes for the women and youth.
The prime aim of ISS is to provide hope for the poorest of the poor in various areas and societies. The institution offers training in skills necessary for employment and enabling the people to become self-reliant and morally upright. The mission of ISS extends across education, pastoral ministry, social interventions or support, assistance to people at risk (especially in emergency), and health services. In the field of education, the ISS proudly works with the education institutions spread across the Ho Diocese, with a particular emphasis on improving quality human resource. Identifying the transformative potentials of systemic change at the community levels that can impact on positive improvement of livelihoods, ISS is poised to strengthen its commitment to integrated sustainable development. ISS aligns with the 10-year strategic plan of the Catholic Diocese of Ho. In the pursuit of its mission and dedication to bringing hope to underprivileged individuals and communities and the provisioning of essential skills, enabling self-reliance, corporate ownership and moral responsibility.