Commonwealth Association of Planners pays courtesy call on Director-General of NDPC

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA - Dr Stephen Yirenkyi, Vice President of the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP), has paid a courtesy call on Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, the Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

A statement signed by Madam Akosua D. Ntim Sekyere, Public Relations Officer of the NDPC, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the meeting which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Ghana Institution of Planners (GIP), discussed how the institutions could collaborate to strengthen efforts to promote national development.

Dr Yirenkyi, who is also a past President of GIP, said the visit of the global body was timely and expressed the hope that it would set the pace for strong partnerships.

He said the GIP was one of the pioneers of CAP and helped nurture some countries in the sub-region, particularly the Gambia.

Dr Yirenkyi said there is a huge advantage of being part of a global institution like CAP, where ideas were shared and solutions found to common problems.

He said plans are afoot to form a West-African Association of Planners to address problems affecting the region.

Mr Clive Harridge, the Secretary-General of CAP, said the association provided a network of planners across the world to cross-fertilise ideas to deal with peculiar challenges or needs.

He said there still existed some challenges globally that require collective efforts to address – urbanisation, population growth, capacity shortages in built environment, were about a few of the challenges member countries encountered.

He said these could be resolved through collaborations to achieve national development aspirations.

Dr Mensah-Abrampa commended CAP for their exploits and expressed the readiness of the Commission to work together closely with GIP and CAP respectively, adding that “GIP will be stronger with its collaboration with NDPC.”

He said, NDPC, per its mandate to advise the President on development planning policy and strategy, would rely on its expertise in the various fields to change the narrative going forward.

Dr Mensah-Abrampa said planners have what it takes in assisting government in revenue mobilization and generation – property tax among others were avenues these professionals could help in mobilising revenue.

The Director-General on the issue of engaging professional planners to help in national development planning, assured the delegation that he would work with the appropriate institutions to ensure that is upheld.

He added that Commission would ensure that Women and Youth in Planning were given the needed support since they were the future of planning.

CAP is a major global institution in planning which plays a significant role to promote planning as a fundamental part of governance for sustainable human settlement. It currently has a membership of 28 countries throughout the Commonwealth including African, Asian, Australasian and Caribbean countries.

The Association also has a Women in planning network and a Young Planners network and plays a leading role in developing the planning profession and planners throughout the countries of the Commonwealth.

The delegation was made up of executives from the Ghana Institution of Planners and representatives from some member countries of CAP – The Gambia, Nigeria and United Kingdom.

GNA

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