SEND-GHANA has given indication of its preparedness to maximize the impact of social protection policy and programmes on the poor, enhance Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for governance and poverty reduction and maximize the impact of Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) on poverty reduction in Northern Ghana.

This came to light when it launched a new five-year strategic plan to promote social accountability at all levels of governance in national, sector and district assembly budgets to maximize poverty reduction in Accra on the theme: “Making Ghana work for equity.”

An article on a local Ghana News Agency (GNA) website on 15 August reported that SEND-GHANA has over the years built an effective advocacy for maternal health care; making decentralisation work for the poor; building the resiliency of women for climate change; and deepening linkages between research and media practitioners in Ghana for greater policy influence and impact.

Therefore the Plan would help deepen good governance practices of accountability, transparency, and equity. It quoted Mr. Siapha Kamara, Chief Executive Officer of SEND-WEST AFRICA as saying, “when citizens are placed in positions to demand from duty-bearers accountability, it would provide room for growth, development and stability.”

SEND-GHANA was established to empower farmers, small-scale entrepreneurs and rural commercial women to improve on livelihood security and to resource poor and conflict-prone communities. Kamara said, the strategic plan confirms SEND’s commitment to the poor and marginalized, and it responds to global and national economic, and political forces widening the gap of inequalities.

SEND-GHANA had imparted knowledge through the Grassroots Economic Literacy and Advocacy Programme (GELAP) and ICT training programmes on the eastern corridor, reaching nearly more than 30,000 Ghanaians directly with development services, including the participatory monitoring and evaluation network activities (PM&E), GNA reported.

The Board Chairperson of SEND-GHANA Mrs. Janet Adama Mohamed is reported as saying the organisation in the next five-years seek to be more proactive in building the needed capacities in monitoring and documenting its findings and in creating spaces to facilitate effective citizen-government engagement for improved accountability.

On his part, Mr George Osei-Bimpeh, the Country Director of SEND-GHANA, said the plan of SEND-GHANA, which is hinged on seven new strategic directions would respond to the growing inequities in Ghana by promoting ownership of national and district budgets by the poor.

According to him, with the strategic directions, SEND-GHANA would be repositioned to leverage new opportunities to champion citizen participation in national and district budget processes. He expressed appreciation to stakeholders and implementing partners for the plan and called for their support to achieve the goals of the new strategic plan, GNA reported.

Source-SEND-GHANA