The General Manager for Onua Group, Stephen Schandorf has said that the newly launched Onua Foundation marks another milestone in the life of Onua TV and FM.
He said the launch of Onua Foundation on Friday, December 8 has been a part of the story of these stations, which started seven years ago for Onua FM and four years ago for Onua TV.
Mr Schandorf indicated that the burning desire that drove Media General to set up its local language stations was borne out of a need to connect with our people in a unique way, understand the people on their own terms and get results for them because media gets results.
“Onua has been where the people are, in the markets, at their workplaces, in the communities, in the hospitals and CHPS compounds and their churches among others. Onua TV and FM have become familiar with needs of their audiences.
The Onua Foundation is being launched to create opportunities that enable us to partner with people and organisations to make the lives of our people better. Statistics indicate that in 2023, around 2.99 million people in Ghana lived in extreme poverty, the majority in rural areas. The count of families living on less than GHC23 (1.90 U.S. dollars) a day, in rural regions reached around 2.8 million, while 214,000 extremely poor people were located in urban areas.
“The World Health Organization (2018) reports that over 40% of Ghanaians do not have access to essential health services, exacerbating the burden of poverty on individuals and households. According to the Ghana Statistical Service (2017), about 13% of children in rural areas have never attended school, highlighting the educational disparities that perpetuate poverty. Low productivity, climate change impacts, inadequate access to modern farming techniques, and limited market access contribute to rural poverty.
“The World Economic Forum’s Inclusive Development Index (2018) ranks Ghana relatively low in terms of income distribution and wealth equality, reflecting the challenges of income inequality,” he said in the address during the launch of the Foundation.
Mr Schandorf further stated that there are several of these challenges that need to be collectively dealt with as a people, and that is what Onua Foundation will seek to work with society to help address.
“Organisations that are not involved in impacting lives are missing out. Onua Foundation is here to stay to impact the lives of communities and help to address some of the challenges stated above. That is why we have as the Foundation’s tagline, ‘BOAFO PA’- Good helper,” Mr Schandorf stated.
Having been launched, Onua Foundation commits to implement humanitarian initiatives in partnership with listeners, viewers, clients and the public, to promote social inclusion and equitable access to basic necessities of life, particularly for the needy and deprived communities in Ghana.