By Solomon Gumah/Ramatu Mantenso Yakubu
Tamale, May 22, GNA – A survey conducted by the Ghana CSOs Platform on SDGs has recommended the introduction of stronger sanctions for non-compliance on town hall meetings.
It has also called for the strengthening of enforcement mechanisms to enhance citizen participation and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) localisation across the country.
The survey further recommended a review of the District Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT) scoring system to give more prominence to town hall meetings and ensure dedicated budgetary allocations to support logistics, mobilisation and implementation of the meetings.
The recommendations were contained in a study report titled: “SDG Localisation Through Town Hall Meetings in Ghana: A CSOs Platform Study”, presented during a stakeholder engagement and Town Hall Meeting held in Tamale.
The event was organized by the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-Ghana), a member of the Ghana CSOs Platform on SDGs, and attended by heads of government agencies, youth groups, persons with disabilities among others.
Hajia Alima Sagito-Saeed, Executive Director of SWIDA-Ghana and Convener of the Ghana CSOs Platform on SDGs, who presented the findings of the survey during the event, said the study examined the effectiveness of town hall meetings as tools for participatory governance and local implementation of the SDGs.
She said the study sought to ascertain citizens’ knowledge and participation in town hall meetings, evaluate inclusiveness in promoting sustainable development, and examine gender-responsive strategies to strengthen the effectiveness of the meetings.
The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods and covered 23 districts across the country involving 762 respondents, two key informant interviews and three focus group discussions involving youth groups, persons with disabilities and local communities.
Findings from the study showed that healthcare and social protection were among the major issues discussed during town hall meetings.
The report indicated that 61.4 per cent of respondents agreed that healthcare needs featured prominently in discussions, even though concerns remained over poor health infrastructure, long distances to health facilities, and inadequate numbers of midwives.
It added that 57% of respondents acknowledged discussions on social protection issues but cited information gaps and confusion surrounding eligibility requirements for the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and the Disability Fund.
On communication for participation, the report revealed that 75.2% of respondents agreed that the use of local languages enhanced understanding and participation during meetings.
However, it noted that hearing-impaired participants remained largely excluded due to the absence of sign language interpreters.
The report further observed that communication materials used during meetings lacked inclusive features such as bold prints, subtitles, and accessible formats for persons with disabilities.
It said although 56.7% of respondents perceived attendance at meetings to be high, outreach efforts were often limited to community leaders because of inadequate resources and transport challenges.
The study also highlighted gender and age disparities in participation indicating that town hall meeting attendance was predominantly male at 57.3% and largely comprised educated adults between ages 25 and 44 years.
According to the report, this reflected the exclusion of women and young people, influenced partly by prevailing patriarchal norms.
It further identified physical and sensory barriers, noting that only 50.7% of meeting venues were fully accessible to persons with disabilities.
The report revealed that reliance on traditional announcement systems and short-notice invitations contributed to low participation with 59.3% of non-attendees indicating they were unaware of scheduled meetings.
It, therefore, recommended the adoption of innovative approaches including virtual meetings, digital platforms, community durbars, and festivals as channels to improve participation.
The report also urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to partner with civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations and the private sector to reduce operational costs and expand outreach through radio, mobile communication and social media platforms.
Mr Mohammed Salahudeen, Planning Officer at the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly highlighted digital initiatives being implemented by the Assembly to improve citizen engagement and advance SDGs (nine and 17).
He said the Assembly had introduced a property rate billing platform to facilitate easy generation and distribution of property rate bills and established a Facebook feedback platform, which had received more than 450 citizen messages since last year.
He added that smart data collection tools including Kobo Collect and Survey123 had been deployed for spatial planning, monitoring, and data management.
Mr Salahudeen, however, cited challenges including poor internet connectivity in some communities, low digital literacy among marginalised groups, inadequate ICT infrastructure and funding constraints as affecting expansion of digital initiatives.
He said the Assembly planned to install free Wi-Fi hotspots at three assembly offices and train youth volunteers to support elderly persons in accessing digital services.
GNA
Edited by Eric K. Amoh /Kenneth Odeng Adade