The initiatives implemented included working on community-led total sanitation by providing household toilets, the provision of potable water for a deprived community, construction of a community durbar ground and the provision of security lights for safe and easy access for children and women from one part of a community to the other.

Over a period of six months, the students received the necessary technical support to lead the implementation of their group projects, including managing their activities, leveraging stakeholder involvement, networking opportunities, continuous learning, and support with financial management and reporting amongst others.

The students received a grant in April, this year from the Youth Empowerment Synergy (YES-Ghana) to implement the projects, which formed part of the Youth Leadership for Social Change project implemented by YES-Ghana in collaboration with UDS and the University of Cape Coast (UCC) with funding from the Ford Foundation.

Mr Eric Saforo, Project Manager, Youth Leadership for Social Change, who spoke at a ceremony in Tamale, praised the students for selecting and excellently executing projects that addressed problems of communities.

Mr Saforo said “The nature of social impact initiatives implemented by the Fellows in collaboration with the beneficiary communities proves that the Fellows are ready to take on different challenges as leaders to support society as leaders.”

Professor Israel Dzormeku, Former Dean of Students’ Affairs, UDS, Tamale Campus, said the projects were delivered in partnership with community members to ensure their sustainability whiles delivering results for the beneficiaries.

Professor Dzormeku urged the students to continue to come out with innovative ideas to address needs of society. Miss Caroline Boahen, one of the students, who worked on the projects, said it did not require much money to make change but rather changing the mindset of the people as well as building network and called on all to be passionate about their endeavours to achieve results.

Some community members thanked UDS students for the projects saying they were useful for their communities adding that their involvement in the project conception and implementation would ensure their sustainability.

Meanwhile, a similar event was held at UCC on October 06, this year for students of the University, who also received grants to implement various initiatives of social impact in the Central Region.