Ghana facing challenges over sustainable development strategies – Minister

Ms Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, says Ghana faces a number of challenges in the formulation and implementation of sustainable development strategies.

She said some of the challenges included inadequate ownership, commitment, governance and participation.

Ms Ayittey was addressing a workshop to deliberate on the draft National Assessment Report on the Achievement of Ghana on Sustainable Development for RIO+20 conferences in Accra on Tuesday.

The workshop, which was organised by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), was also to secure a renewed political will, address new and emerging challenges and to focus on a green economy and institutional framework for sustainable development, well ahead of Rio+20 Conference of Heads of States scheduled to take place in Brazil on June 2012.

She explained that there integration and coordination among the Ministries, Departments and Agencies were weak resulting in weak technical, institutional and financial capacity and the inability to monitor and evaluate the process of donors to meet their development assistance pledges.

Ms Ayittey noted that the report being discussed included proposals to address the challenges required by the development and implementation of a long term development strategies.

The Sector Minister said it was critical for effective grass root participation to include the private sector and the civil society organisations at the design and implementation stages.

“This calls for building human and institutional capacities for policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and for the enforcement of legislation,” she added.

Ms Ayittey called for the transformation of the economy through the modernisation of agriculture and the addition of value to national resources to expand the manufacturing sector

Source: GNA