The Ministry of Finance, members of parliament and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have all made commitments to improve the tax system, and help address poverty and inequality issues in Ghana.

SEND GHANA, an anti-corruption Civil Society Organisation that seeks to promote good governance and transparency in Ghana, has urged citizens to apply their skills and knowledge acquired in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Social Media to fight corruption in Ghana.

Project Activity: Small Holder Agricultural Development (SHAD)

Coordinators of activity: Daniel Adotey and Aisha Mohammed. 

Total participants: 50 (Males: 38, Females: 12)

On Thursday, 18th December 2014, SEND–GHANA in collaboration with Peasant Farmers Association, Ghana (PFAG) held a workshop to review and analyse the 2015 budgetary allocation to the Agricultural Sector. The workshop was funded by OXFAM under the GROW Campaign and OSIWA.

Some Farmers in the East Gonja district of the Northern region have noted that inoculants have the potential to boost their soya beans production in the 2014/2015 cropping season.

SEND-GHANA on Saturday 9th May, 2015 handed over three (3) Massey Ferguson Tractors (435 model) and accessories worth 183,000 USD (ie 671,610.00 Ghana cedis) to three Zonal Cooperative Associations in its resolve to improve agricultural production in the eastern corridor.

The negative attitude of some health professionals in maternity wards has been cited as a challenge to maternal health service delivery in rural Ghana.

SEND-GHANA has organised  a regional level meeting with District Citizens Monitoring Committees (DCMCs) to discuss issues bordering on anti-corruption.

SEND-GHANA, on Thursday 23rd April, 2015, organised a validation workshop on a Part-Me and Cordaid funded draft research report on how pro-poor the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is, in relation to Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) Program.

Civil Society Organisation, SEND-GHANA, has urged the Government of Ghana to consider aligning its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) priorities with national development.

Over the last decade, Ghana has developed and implemented several anti-corruption initiatives, passed a number of anti-corruption laws and ratified international conventions. Ghana has also established accountability institutions and a National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) has been developed recently. Despite these efforts, corruption has persisted and there has been little progress in reducing it.

Over the years we have used every challenge as an opportunity to innovate and empower the people of the eastern corridor to drive and own the development of their communities, Siapha Kamara, Chief Executive Officer of SEND-WEST AFRICA has said.

The President of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs has called on government to support smallholder farmers to increase their productivity and income by improving the provision of agricultural extension services, irrigation services and subsidized fertilizer under the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme.

The Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada (CDF) Board of Directors will be seeking nominations for one position and the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) Board of Directors will be seeking nominations for two positions.  Directors of both CDF and CCA are for a three-year term that commences in June.

Government reneged on its promise to provide 180,000mt subsidized fertilizer and seed to crop farmers in 2014 crop season even though it was captured in the 2014 budget statement.

The Canadian Cooperative Association, in partnership with SEND-GHANA, Credit Union Association of Ghana (CUA), project beneficiaries and stakeholders is implementing a 5 year (2013 – 2017) Food Security through Co-operatives in Northern Ghana (FOSTERING) project. 

SEND-GHANA, a policy research and social enterprise advocacy group, has commended government for publishing the 2015 Citizens Budget in English and in some local languages.

The Country Director of Send-Ghana, Mr George Osei-Bimpeh , has stated that for good and accountable governance to thrive, various stakeholders and most especially Metropolitan ,Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs) must partner effectively with Civil Society Organisations(CSOs) to bring it to fruition.

Twenty-one persons made up of District Citizens Committee Members and selected opinion leaders in the Ejura Sekyedumasi Municipal Area in the Ashanti Region have undergone a day’s training in policy advocacy at the local level in Ejura.

SEND-GHANA, in collaboration with Star Ghana has organised a validation workshop on draft guidelines on the relationship between Traditional Authorities and District Assemblies under the theme, “Maximizing the participation of Non State Actors in local governance for increased accountability, transparency and responsiveness.’’

Was it causing financial loss to the state or neglecting the needs of the people for political expediency?
Or better still was it a case of lack of transparency and accountability on the part of public official and the inability of citizens to hold such official accountable?

The little over eleven years I worked with CUA as the General Manager had been very challenging and at the same time rewarding.  My appointment came at a time when the Ghana Credit Unions Development Assistance Project (GCUDAP) which I was a Management Advisor engaged by the Canadian Co-operative Association has come to the end in March 2001. 

A total number of 19 FOSTERING staff comprising of four women and 15 men have received training in how to prepare task sheet to aid their work.
A task sheet is a checklist that you use to track important duties that you must perform.

This year marks my first anniversary as an employee of Christian Aid. The year has been a learning period for me and I thank the good Lord for bringing me thus far. As we move towards the end of this year I take a pause and use the opportunity of this write up to reflect a bit on my work at Christian Aid (CA).

SEND-GHANA, under the auspices of the Grow Campaign joined other Civil Society Organisations and Producer Associations across Africa and beyond in April, 2014 to endorse a' Joint Policy Recommendation ' titled “From Rhetoric to Action: Towards a Transformed Agriculture and Food Secure Africa” to express a strong civil society position on African governments' commitments to more and better investment in agriculture. The initiative was led by ONE.

Participants at stakeholder’s consultative meeting in Accra on 24 June have called on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to work closely with each other in order tomaximize the impact of development interventions at the local level.

SEND-GHANA on 9th May, 2014, launched its latest District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) research report titled “Making the Two Percent of the District Assemblies Common Fund Work for Persons with Disability," in Accra.

The Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region recorded four maternal,  in 2011, five in 2012 and 6 deaths in 2013. The trend shows a worrying annual increment in maternal mortality in the district in spite of ongoing interventions such as the millennium project, which is also contributing to the fight against maternal deaths.

The World Bank has released the list of finalists for second round of Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) grants. The selection of eight new project countries included Ghana, Uganda, Moldova, Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Mongolia, Paraguay and Tunisia. The grants, totaling close to US$6 million over the next five years, is expected to be used to help set up projects to tackle poor governance in the health services sector in Moldova, monitor social services in the cash transfer program in Paraguay, and make the budget work for citizens in Ghana.

The Agona East District, which was created about six years ago, has no district hospital.

The situation has compelled expectant mothers who live in the district to seek medical care at Salvation Army Hospital, a private facility.
 
In view of this, it has become even more difficult for the district to achieve the MDGs on maternal health.

A one week orientation and gender training has been organized for 32 new staff of SEND-GHANA at Salaga in the Northern Region of Ghana. All the new staff would be working on SEND’s Livelihood Security programme in the Eastern corridor of Ghana.  A key project driving the Livelihood Security programme is the Food Security Through Cooperatives in Northern Ghana (FOSTERING) project.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in collaboration with the Ghana Federation for the Disabled (GFD) is petitioning the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Administrator of the Common Fund to address issues related to the two percent of District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) allocation to Persons with Disability (PWD) in Ghana.

Some Queen mothers in the Brong Ahafo region have endorsed SEND-GHANA’s Soya drink, Soya stew, Soya Koose and Soya Khebab.
According to them the taste of the range of products from soya can match up to the imported ones. They were, therefore, of the view that SEND should train more people to produce the assorted products, such as drinks, for local consumption.

Ghana is far from achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at reducing maternal mortality to 185 per 100, 000 live births by 2015. In an interview, John Nkaw, the Northern Regional Programme Officer of SEND GHANA, explained that, if you look at the rate of decline, it suggests that Ghana is not likely to attain the MDG on Maternal Health.

Participants at stakeholder's consultative meeting in Accra on 24 June have called on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to work closely with each other in order tomaximize the impact of development interventions at the local level. They called for full implementation of the National Decentralization Action Plan (NDAP) which among others has the objective to clarify and strengthen the roles and relationships between key non-state actors such as the traditional authorities and civil society groups in local governance.

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.