An interface meeting has been held among various stakeholders in the Savelugu Municipality of the Northern Region to kick-start the implementation of the Performance Accountability Activity (PAA) in the area.
The meeting afforded participants the opportunity to strategise and come up with ideas related to achieving the PAA’s goals, identify potential barriers and guidelines to overcome them, and explore ways to sustain the outcomes of the PAA.
Participants included authorities of the Savelugu Municipal Assembly, traditional and religious leaders and representatives from Democracy International and Grameen-Ghana, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO).
The PAA is a five-year activity, which seeks to engage service providers across 70 districts in 10 regions of the country to be more responsive to citizens’ demand for quality essential services, particularly in the areas of basic education, health, water and sanitation, agriculture, and fisheries.
It supports local organisations, women and youth groups, including persons with disabilities, traditional and religious leaders to advocate for improved public service delivery.
It is funded by the United States (US) Government through the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID-Ghana) and implemented by Democracy International (DI) in collaboration with the Government of Ghana and CSOs, including Norsaac amongst others.
Grameen-Ghana, a CSO seeking to reduce poverty and injustice, is spearheading the implementation of the PAA in the Savelugu Municipality and some other Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) in the Northern Region.
Dr Ross Worthington, Chief of Party, PAA, speaking during the meeting at Savelugu, emphasised the Activity’s core objectives, saying “The PAA will enhance the capacity of government partners including sector agencies, District Assemblies, CSOs and community-based organisations to implement behaviour-led capacity-building and institutional strengthening interventions.”
Mr Mugmin Musah, Head of Programmes, Grameen-Ghana, said the Activity would be implemented in 14 districts in the Northern Region while seven of the districts, including Tolon, Kumbungu, Saboba, Zabzugu, Tatale/Sanguli, Nanumba North and South Districts would be led by Grameen-Ghana and Norsaac.
He explained that the PAA would help to strengthen government’s management of policy implementation for efficient service delivery and ensure local public service providers strictly adhered to quality standards.
He said, “We will also in the coming days educate citizen groups on using the score card to monitor service providers in order to track their performance.”
He said the project would also use radio stations as a viable tool to reach out to a wider audience, organise fora and engage service providers during assemblies’ planning reviews in order to register their concerns for appropriate redress.
Hajia Ayishetu Seidu, Savelugu Municipal Chief Executive, who was represented at the meeting, commended USAID-Ghana and partners for initiating the Activity and pledged the Assembly’s full support to sustain the Activity in the area.
Citizens groups at the event cited victimisation by assembly officials, inadequate information on how assemblies operated, bureaucracy and lack of effective flow of information between the assemblies and the citizens as some of the barriers to assessing some of the social services.
Some service providers, who attended the meeting, also pledged their commitment to ensure quality service delivery.
