Overview
Jackson and Associates managed a project office and team of international and local specialists that worked closely with regional and district governance structures across northern Ghana to:
- test and refine a holistic model for small-town water optimization;
- introduce a consultative system for preparing local government strategic plans;
- test and refine a model for district-level advocates of gender equality;
- test and refine a model for regional development coordination across districts;
- develop tools for decentralized poverty monitoring, including a community scorecard component; and
- develop a course on strategic leadership and financial management for District Assemblies.
Results
Many of the project’s innovations were adopted or adapted by national ministries for women, water and local government.
Many regional and district leaders trained and supported in strategic planning and financial management by DISCAP have gone on to play key administrative roles in other districts and regions and in major agencies at the national level, as well.
Policies and procedures clarifying the respective national, regional and district roles in urban and peri-urban water-system management and maintenance that were piloted by DISCAP were utilized by national policy makers in writing national guidelines for the water sector.
The District Gender Desk Officer model developed and tested by DISCAP informed policy and organizational initiatives under successive Ministers of Women’s and Children’s Affairs in the Ghana government.
The gender equality work of the project was recognized by the Government of Ghana and Export Development Canada.