Bolgatanga: The Rural Initiative of Self-Empowerment-Ghana (RISE-Ghana), a non-governmental organization, has organized a stakeholder engagement to equip youth and women groups with evidence-based advocacy skills aimed at promoting inclusive governance. This initiative is part of phase II of the 'Heard Everywhere and Represented Daily (HEARD)' project, funded by Norsaac, a gender-based advocacy organization committed to promoting women's equality in Ghana.
According to Ghana News Agency, the engagement brought together community-based organizations, women groups, and youth associations from the Bolgatanga Municipality and the Kassena Nankana West District. The workshop's objective was to strengthen the capacity of participants in developing practical and community-centered advocacy action plans to address governance barriers impacting women and young people in their communities.
Participants were guided through sessions on advocacy planning, proposal development, and community engagement strategies to enhance their ability to influence policy and advocate for inclusive governance in their respective communities. Ms. Bernice Atanga, Lead Project Officer of the HEARD project at RISE-Ghana, highlighted that the project was initiated to address the underrepresentation of women and youth in governance institutions such as Parliament and local assemblies.
Ms. Atanga explained that the first phase of the project, which began in 2024, focused on educating and empowering young people and women on governance systems, the National Youth Policy, and the Affirmative Action Act to prepare them for leadership roles. The current phase is centered on assisting six community groups from the two beneficiary districts in developing robust advocacy proposals that could attract support from development partners and stakeholders.
'We are looking at them presenting action plans that are convincing enough for our sponsors to invest in and support solutions to the barriers identified in the communities,' Ms. Atanga noted. She added that the engagement also aimed at helping participants identify priority governance issues requiring state intervention, co-develop context-specific advocacy plans, design strategies for equitable representation, and strengthen accountability and reporting systems within their organizations.
Mr. John Kaguna, Project Officer at RISE-Ghana, stated that the workshop was intended to guide participants in refining their advocacy plans to make them more practical, community-led, and solution-oriented. After the presentations and review process, the refined action plans would be submitted to Norsaac for consideration and potential financial support.
'After today's presentation, they are going to refine their various action plans and submit them to Norsaac. Norsaac will review the plans and, based on that, provide financial support for implementation,' he stated. Mr. Kaguna also mentioned that although the initial goal was to support all six groups involved in the project, funding limitations could affect the number of beneficiaries. 'In the event that all groups cannot be funded immediately, those with the most compelling and well-structured action plans will receive support first,' he said.