“Translating the proposal into action is the challenging part, it is not just having a StP manifesto and saying we’re going through with it to the latter. Development is a very messy process; it takes two steps forward and about four backward, and so it requires a lot more than rhetoric.”- Amidu Ibrahim-Tanko, Executive Director -STAR-Ghana Foundation
The search of new ways of working that promote community voice and involvement in social development is imperative and has become an agenda pursued by many development actors, recently. In this spirit, two organizations, supporting civic space strengthening STAR-Ghana Foundation and the West African Civil Society Initiative (WACSI) are initiating steps towards rolling out the long-term civil society support programme-Civil Society Strengthening Programme-ShiftThePower. The Comic Relief funded project seeks to build institutional resilience of CSOs in Ghana by providing a more progressive, negotiated, participatory and widely owned solution to social development work.
The team onboarding, aims at supporting the CSSP-StP implementation teams to reconnect, renew energy and re-create enabling ways of working to optimise resources and deal with potential issues that can pose risks to effective delivery of the programme
The Civil Society Strengthening Project seeks to provide long term support to civil society in Ghana, and in effect, enhance their resilience, responsiveness, and effectiveness in delivering the priorities of its constituents. The CSSP-StP is implemented by STAR Ghana Foundation and the West African Civil Society Institute as Anchor partners for Ghana.
Head of Programmes at STAR-Ghana Foundation, Eunice R. Agbenyadzi intimated that “the team needs to will help co-create how to work together and manage resources and challenges that may affect the delivery of the project as well as how to mitigate it.” She mentioned that the programme in its nature is shifting power.”
In recognizing the challenges associated with development, the Executive Director of the Foundation, stated that “translating the proposal into action is the challenging part, it is not just having a StP manifesto and saying we’re going through with it to the latter. Development is a very messy process; it takes two steps forward and about four backward, and so it requires a lot more than rhetoric.” Alhaji Amidu Ibrahim-Tanko added that for a seamless implementation, it is also important to rope in the various workstreams of both organizations for the segregation of duties on the project in accordance with areas of specialty.