SEND GHANA’s livelihood flagship program known as the Food Security Through Co-operatives in Northern Ghana project (FOSTERING) has been operational in the resource-poor Eastern Corridor of Ghana since 1998.

SEND GHANA implemented the project in collaboration with the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA) and the Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada (CDF Canada), with funding from Global Affairs Canada and CDF Canada. The project has promoted food and nutrition security, increased income, and strengthened gender equity in beneficiary communities.

SEND GHANA has worked to improve access through empowering vulnerable groups to register for free national health insurance. Thousands of mothers and pregnant women have been educated on free maternal and under-five health services.

And, with the support of Zokonis Trust and Christian Aid UK, SEND GHANA built and equipped a modern facility for newborns at the Bawku Hospital. SEND’s Making the Budget Work for Ghana and People for Health projects also increased citizen participation in national and district budgets; each year, citizen budgets are now presented to the Ministry of Finance and district assemblies for consideration. 

Through the Grassroots Economic Literacy and Advocacy Program (GELAP), SEND has implemented several education projects in 60 poorest districts in Ghana. These projects increased good governance in the implementation of government pro-poor intervention programs in the sector.

SEND GHANA’s School Feeding project pressured government to improve targeting and prioritize deprived districts, which has contributed to increase in school enrollment. SEND’s PM&E report on the Free School Uniform program exposed weaknesses in distribution and compelled the Ghana Education Service to take action so that uniforms that were lying in warehouses are being used by students.

The Sustainable Development Goal 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. This global objective reflects SEND GHANA’s mission of working to promote good governance and equality of women and men in Ghana.

To achieve its mission, SEND GHANA developed a gender policy document and gender equality action guide that provides clear and practical guide on what is expected of staff in carrying out gender commitments both within and outside the work environment. The objective of the gender policy is to institutionalize gender mainstreaming so that SEND GHANA can be effective in promoting gender equality through the transformation of management systems and procedures, challenging the traditional gender roles and meeting the strategic interest of men and women.

The Civil Society (CSO) Platform on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was established in October 2015 to ensure more coordinated civil society efforts in achieving the SDGs in Ghana. By May 2016, the Platform was institutionalized with SEND GHANA being the host secretariat.

The promotion of Social and Public Accountability remain high on the agenda of SEND GHANA. Since its establishment in 1998, SEND has been mobilizing, building and strengthening advocacy capacity of civil society to influence governments’ programmes and budgets at the local and national levels.  

At the national level, SEND GHANA has developed effective working relationships with various parliamentary select committees and key ministries with an objective of influencing government policies and budgets through citizens’ feedback mechanism. At the district levels, SEND GHANA has created space and instituted recognized mechanisms for increased citizens’ -government engagement.