August 28 2008
SOS Children's Villages honoured as Ghana's NPO of the year
28/08/2008 - SOS Children's Villages Ghana won the award for the non-profit organisation of the year 2007. A girl from SOS Children's Village Tema received the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) Award on behalf of the organisation from Ghana's deputy minister for trade and industry, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchway on 26 August 2008.
The ceremony organised at the State Banquet Hall in the capital Accra was attended by the crème de la crème of the Ghanaian society and business leaders from all over the country. SOS Children's Villages Ghana was represented by national director Mr Kojo Mattah, the director of SOS Children's Village Tema and other co-workers.
The citation on the plaque presented to SOS Children's Villages Ghana reads: "With your goal to prepare and equip orphaned, abandoned and destitute children for an independent future, you have over the years thrust forward with your mission to bring comfort and the feeling of belonging to these children from all walks of life irrespective of race, culture or religion. Your activities have impacted positively on society through your projects that include SOS Children's Villages, SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools, family strengthening programmes and medical centres."
"Your family strengthening programmes especially have provided support for over 420 orphaned and vulnerable children as well as their caregivers. These and many activities undertaken in the year 2007 have been noticed. In recognition of the above, the CIMG duly confers on you the Non Profit Organisation of the Year 2007."
Reacting to this distinction, national director Kojo Mattah expressed the wish that this award "be a motivation for us to do what we are best at, i.e. taking care of children".
This is not the first time SOS Children's Villages Ghana was honoured; in 2005, the organisation received the Millennium Excellence Award in recognition of its outstanding contribution towards improving the quality of education in Ghana.
The CIMG, a national organisation which is affiliated to the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK, was established in 1981 to promote the study and practice of modern scientific marketing. The award scheme was initiated 17 years ago. This year's award was themed: "Improving the work ethos of the Ghanaian - The Role of Strategic Marketing". The winners in a total of 26 categories were selected through a rigorous and scientific-based methodology.