Ghana gets GH¢2.8m Dutch government support for SAP
The Dutch government has committed GH¢2.8 million grant to sponsor a Social Accountability Project (SAP) aimed at addressing some of the challenges facing the Ghana School Feeding Progaramme (GSFP).
The SAP is expected to create multiple platforms, including the media, parliament, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the beneficiary communities, to work in a concerted effort to ensure that the GSFP is implemented according to the rules and regulations at all levels.
The two-year project is being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), which is the supervising author-secretariat, the Embassy of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation.
One of the key activities of the SAP is the Independent Civil Society Organisation Monitoring and Evaluation (ICSO-M&E), which is a platform for CSOs to use various monitoring tools to ensure transparency and accountability in the management to the GFSP at the district level.
The Minister for local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh, officially opened the ICSO-M&E component at a three-day workshop in Accra for 60 participants drawn from selected CSOs.
He explained that the GSFP was an initiative aimed at attaining some of the targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including increased and sustained enrolment at the basic school level, by providing pupils with one nutritious meal a day using locally grown foodstuffs.
Mr. Chireh said the SAP will help address the unfavourable public perception and some of the challenges of the GSFP by actively involving all stakeholders in the programme implementation.
Mr. Keita Amagoin, the Country Director of SNV Ghana, said indications were that some countries in the Africa Region admired the GSFP and were considering adopting it. He therefore called on all the stakeholders to ensure the success of the GSFP.
Mrs. Irene Odokai Messiba, the focal person for the GSFP at the MLGRD, said GH¢59.2 million is being spent this year to feed an estimated 700,000 schoolchildren in a number of selected schools under the GSFP.
The government is contributing GH¢50 million, while the Dutch Government is providing GH¢9.2 million.
Mrs. Massiba said the volume of money calls for projects such as SAP to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of the resources and the achievement of the project objectives.
Source: Daily Graphic