By Kodjo Adams
Accra, March 17, GNA – Professor Kenneth Boateng, Director Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Training and Consulting, has called on authorities to mainstream social and environmental issues before implementing development projects.
Prof Boateng stated that prioritising these risk issues prior to project implementation helped to reduce financial costs due to delays in the execution of projects.
The Professor said this on Monday at the opening ceremony of a six-day training course on environmental and social risk management in Accra.
The course, christened “Essentials of Environmental and Social Risk Management” (ESRM), is aimed at increasing the capacity of environmental experts to manage infrastructure projects in the country and within sub-Saharan Africa.
The training programme brought together 15 environmental officials from Ghana, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Tunisia to build their capacities in managing environmental and social risk issues.
The programme is organised by GIMPA in collaboration with the Regional Transport Research and Education Centre of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the World Bank Group.
Prof Boateng said, “We do not live in a vacuum, and whatever we do, we do it within the environment, and we must be aware of the risk and bring it to the barest minimum.”
He underscored the benefits of undertaking a feasibility analysis to identify environmental effects on development projects like hospitals, road construction, schools, and others and put in place comprehensive strategies to ensure the success of the projects.
Prof Boateng charged the participants to fully participate in the course and implement the knowledge acquired to improve service delivery in their respective countries.
Professor Helen Essandoh, Director, Regional Transport Research and Education Centre, KNUST, said the course, since its inception in November 2022, had built the capacities of over 200 participants within the sub-region.
Capacity building, she stressed, was key to ensuring efficiency in the discharge of their professional duties.
She said the course would upgrade their knowledge on new developments in the sector for better appreciation of the issues and find solutions.
Dr Emmanuel Abeka, Senior Social Development Specialist, World Bank, said the training modules were in line with the Bank’s agenda to streamline social and environmental risk issues in project management.
He said the Bank had commenced a gap analysis on ESRM with other banks in the continent and address any shortcomings in the system.
He urged the participants to take advantage of networking to share experience and best practices.
The participants would be taken through topics like the regulatory and institutional framework for ESRM, environmental and social impact assessment, stakeholder engagement, land acquisition and involuntary resettlement, and labour and occupational health and safety in development projects.
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