By Philip Tengzu, GNA
Wa (UW/R), Feb. 24, GNA – The Sissala West and Wa West District Assemblies have outlined concrete measures to sustain the gains of the Peace Building Fund (PBF) project to consolidate peace and strengthen responsive governance in the districts.
The measures included commitment to regular community sensitisation, scaling up the intervention to other communities and building a network of community champions to promote usage of the PBF Dashboard and the community scorecard.
The District Assemblies announced these measures at a stakeholder engagement on the analysis of a PBF Dashboard, a digital grievance receipt and redress platform introduced under the PBF project to enhance service delivery at the district level.
The PBF Dashboard is a mobile application that enables people to lodge complaints directly with duty bearers for prompt response.
A designated officer at each Assembly monitors the system and escalates the complaints to relevant service providers, including the health, education, and security sectors, for appropriate action.
In its sustainability action plan, the Sissala West District Assembly expressed commitment to organising quarterly community fora to provide feedback on issues raised and ensure continuous maintenance of the system.
It further indicated plans to strengthen collaboration with other implementing partners on the PBF project.
Similarly, the Wa West District Assembly expressed readiness to sustain engagement with service providers and resourced the Dashboard administrator with essential logistics, including internet data.
Madam Charity Batuure, the Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Gender, described the Dashboard as an innovative mechanism with the potential to improve service delivery at the community level if properly managed.
Madam Selina Owusu, a Gender Analyst at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), underscored the need for beneficiary Assemblies to institutionalise a system that would safeguard the project gains to promote quality and accountable service delivery.
Pognaa Fati Issaka Koray, the Upper West Regional Coordinating Director, expressed appreciation to the UNFPA for implementing the project in the region and appealed for its extension to other districts.
Presenting an overview of complaints logged on the platform, Mr Senanu Agbozo, the PBF-DASH Consultant, reported that 37 complaints had been received from the Wa West and Sissala West Districts.
The complaints covered concerns in the education sector, including poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) performance, teacher attrition and the lack of a school in the Olli community.
Other issues related to the lack of electricity in communities such as Olli and Jeffisi Gowi, reports of armed robbery and suspected criminal activity, as well as community conflicts.
Health-related concerns included the lack of children’s wards in some facilities, inadequate delivery beds, damaged sanitation infrastructure at a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound, and insufficient staff accommodation.
Mr Agbozo indicated: “Only one out of the 37 complaints received on the Dashboard was marked as resolved, which indicates a broken grievance redress mechanism.”
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/ Christabel Addo