By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah
Tema, June 20, GNA – The National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), in collaboration with the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), has organised a training workshop to equip stakeholders with knowledge and strategies for inclusive service delivery through popular participation.
The one-day workshop, held in partnership with Municipal Innovations-Women in Local Leadership (PMI- WILL) project at the TMA Hall, brought together participants from diverse backgrounds, including representatives of non-governmental organizations, fisherfolks, women’s groups, persons with disabilities, youth associations, media and a lot more.
The six year project which started in 2021 is funded by Global Affairs, Canada through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and implemented in Ghana with the collaboration of NALAG.
It is aimed at building participant’s capacity to effectively engage in local governance and improve service delivery at the community level.
Mr Yao Semorde, Business and Organization Development Consultant, explained the concept of inclusive service delivery strategies as approaches that ensure public services, meet the needs of all citizens including marginalized groups, emphasising that inclusive delivery means making sure every segment of society was involved in the planning, execution, and monitoring of services such as education, sanitation, health, and infrastructure.
Mr Semorde, a Facilitator for the workshop, outlined the objectives of the training, which included enhancing stakeholders’ understanding of inclusive governance, strengthening community engagement in decision-making processes, and encouraging local authorities to adopt people-centred approaches to service provision.
He further highlighted the benefits of inclusive service delivery, stressing that it leads to improved trust between citizens and local authorities, ensured transparency, promotes accountability, and enhanced the quality and sustainability of services.
A key focus of the workshop was also on popular participation, which the facilitator defined as the active involvement of citizens in the processes of governance and development, explaining that participation could take several forms, including attending town hall meetings, contributing ideas during community forums, serving on local committees, or providing feedback on services.
Mr Semorde explained that the protocols of standard inclusive service delivery, were popular participation, client-focused, accountability and professionalism, adding that strategies for inclusive service delivery were gender sensitive budget, establishment of monitoring committee, creation of disability access points, among others.
Mr Emmanuel Abbey, the National Project Coordinator, PMI- WILL, stated that the project was designed to empower stakeholders especially women by equipping them with the necessary knowledge to actively participate in local governance processes saying that one of the primary objectives of the initiative was to foster inclusive decision-making by ensuring that community members have a voice in matters that affect their lives.
Mr Abbey stated that a research study was undertaken to investigate the underlying causes of the low participation of women in local-level elections saying that findings revealed that a major barrier was the persistence of societal
stereotypes that discourage women from pursuing leadership roles.
He stated that the project promoted gender inclusiveness by actively fostering equal opportunities for both men and women, with particular emphasis on empowering women to take on leadership roles.
Nana John Owu, the Tema Metropolitan Coordinating, urged the people to demand for accountability from the authorities and make their demands known to them saying “ask questions, demand accountability, transparency, and be on us to deliver.”
The event ended with a group work and presentation, where stakeholders were divided into two groups and tasked to identify key marginalised groups in the society, analyse how each group was currently engaged and design an intervention to improve inclusion in service planning
GNA
Edited by Laudia Sawer/Benjamin Mensah