Community Health Empowerment Initiative
Tongor – Tsanakpe – Dzemini
GHANA
The Challenge
Clean & Safe Cooking
Approximately 2.6 billion people worldwide rely on biomass fuels such as wood and charcoal for cooking, contributing to an estimated 2.8 million deaths annually from household air pollution. This exposure drives acute respiratory infections – responsible for over one in ten deaths among children under five – and increasing the risk of burn injuries in the home. Expanding access to clean and safe cooking solutions is essential to protecting health and saving lives.
(State of Global Air Report, 2023. World Health Organization, 2023. UNICEF, 2024)
Clean Water & Safe Storage
Contaminated water is linked to over 1 million deaths each year from diarrheal diseases alone – many of them young children dying from preventable illness. At the same time, an estimated 2 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water. Water from rivers, taps, vendors and even treatment centers may appear clean but is often unsafe and contaminated during collection, transport, and storage. Safe water requires both reliable access and proper storage and hygiene practices
(World Health Organisation & UNICEF, 2023. CAWST, 2026
Research & Innovation
The YSDC and its leadership prioritize and apply scientifically sound, cutting-edge evidence-based research to maximise impact on community and environmental health.
Our Three Pillar Program Model
The Tongor-Tsanakpe-Dzemeni Community Empowerment Initiative is implemented through the Youth Service and Development Corps – a first-of-its-kind service corps model that integrates youth leadership, household health promotion, and vocational pathways into a single scalable delivery system
We LEAD
Forming the identity of the Corps through discipline, values, responsibility, and civic pride.
Youth build the confidence and character needed to lead behavior change in their communities, emerging as role models, household educators, peer mentors, and community advocates.
This pillar builds the foundation of identity, values, and leadership that empowers youth to influence change in their communities
We ACT
Forming the operational engine of the Corps through service, skills, and community action.
Youth promote behavior change and build supportive household infrastructure through home visits, health education, and practical service.
This pillar turns skills training into practical action that improves household health and community well-being.
We THRIVE
Forming the long-term resilience of the Corps and the communities it serves.
Youth build pathways to employment, enterprise, and cooperative business as communities sustain measurable improvements in health, safety, and well-being.
This pillar transforms the Corps into a workforce and enterprise pipeline that sustains gains and strengthens community resilience
Our Response
Our Vision
Children and families flourish when empowered youth support behavior change and remain engaged through pathways to skills, entrepreneurship, and employment.
Our Mission
The Tongor-Tsanakpe-Dzemeni Community Health Empowerment Initiative equips rural youth to become community service leaders and agents of change.
Through practical skills training, leadership development, and service-based learning, young people promote the adoption of evidence-based behaviors that improve health and safety at the household level.
Our Youth Service and Development Corps pairs capacity building with community service, creating pathways to entrepreneurship, employment, and lifelong leadership.
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Partner With Us
Partner with the Youth Service and Development Corps to strengthen youth leadership, improve household health and safety, and sustain measurable community impact.