Sahel Response - Piloting Amplio's Technology to Increase Access to Information in Northern Ghana

In the central Sahel armed conflict and violent extremism is impacting the lives of millions of people, creating a spillover effect into neighboring countries-including Ghana. Communities along the northern border are facing heightened risk of exploitation and disruption of social services, including food security, health, and education.
Program manager Fidelis Da-uri discusses a six-month Talking Book pilot project Amplio Ghana conducted in partnership with UNICEF Ghana, Ghana Health Service, and multiple government agencies. Led by UNICEF, with Amplio Ghana as a key implementing partner, the project deployed Amplio Talking Books to strengthen access to essential services and information in districts with extremely poor infrastructure. The devices were distributed to through Ghana's Community-based Health and Planning Service (CHPS) zones. CHPS nurses and community health volunteers used Amplio's rugged audio devices to deliver consistent and accurate messages and facilitate discussion about health, children protection, and other emerging issues.
As part of the effort, Amplio Ghana led message development workshops for district stakeholders in the Upper West and Upper East regions, including District Assemblies, Ghana Education Service, Child Protection, the Gender Desk, Environmental Health, WASH, and others.
Our team also provided technology training, technical support, and conducted monitoring activities in extremely hard to reach communities.
"In our part of the country, Upper West and Upper East, we have some districts sharing borders with Burkina Faso. Because of the violence there, people were crossing into Ghana," Fidelis shared.
"UNICEF wanted to ensure that there is a continuity of health services at the community level - in areas that already have very poor infrastructure. So they reached out to Amplio Ghana to deliver a Talking Book program to ensure that people in impacted communities have access to on-demand information on health and child protection.
"When we did our monitoring, we realized that there were some challenges. In some CHPS zones, how to even get there was a problem. And when we visited these CHPS zones, we realized they also lack health facilities. When you look at the structure, you realize it’s just traditional bricks and clay the community. When you step inside, you start sweating. The CHPS nurses really struggle-they feel like it's a punishment to be posted there."
Through site visits and Talking Book user feedback, the team discovered other challenges.
"There are high rates of teen pregnancy. Local stakeholders requested more Talking Books, to put in schools, along with messaging about adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Through the Talking Book user feedback, we learned that pregnant women in some communities are not allowed to eat eggs, vegetables, or fruit. This is a traditional practice-but it's also a nutrition challenge. With more funding to continue the project, this is something we would want to address through the Talking Book content."
This video was recorded on Zoom and shows the connectivity issues Amplio's staff experiences during our regular team meetings.
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