Accra: The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), in collaboration with the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), has kicked off a three-day workshop aimed at enhancing the integration of gender considerations into planning and budgeting processes at the sub-national level.
According to Ghana Web, the workshop, which commenced on Monday, 31 August 2026, is being held at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Conference Centre, University of Ghana. It gathers planning, budget, and gender officers from Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Greater Accra Region, alongside representatives from relevant national and regional institutions. The focus is on the practical application of NDPC's Gender-Responsive Planning and Budgeting Toolkit to ensure gender considerations are integrated throughout the planning and budgeting cycle.
Opening the event, Dr. Audrey Smock Amoah, Director-General of NDPC, emphasized the workshop's aim to translate gender equality commitments into tangible actions through planning and public resource allocation. She highlighted the ongoing challenge women face in accessing economic opportunities and decision-making, despite making up over half of Ghana's population and labor force. Dr. Amoah urged participants to critically evaluate whether public resources are effectively reaching the communities that need them most and expressed gratitude to AFIDEP for its support in the training's development and implementation.
Dr. Maame B Peterson, AFIDEP's Country Lead of Projects - Research and Policy Analyst, remarked that the workshop is designed to be practical, encouraging participants to apply the concepts to their respective districts using actual planning and budgeting documents. She stressed the importance of considering how public resource allocation affects different societal groups, framing it as a matter of fairness. Dr. Peterson explained that the training curriculum was a collaborative effort among AFIDEP, NDPC, and the Ministries of Finance and Gender, Children and Social Protection, created after identifying gaps in gender-responsive planning and budgeting at regional and district levels.
She encouraged active participation and open discussions on the challenges of implementing gender-responsive approaches, urging participants to bring their genuine questions to ensure the training addresses the real-world challenges officials face in their institutions.
This training is part of ongoing initiatives by NDPC and its partners to build institutional capacity for inclusive and gender-responsive national development planning.