Madam Wedadu Sayibu
Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS) has held a training workshop to build the capacity of some excluded groups in the Northern Region to empower them participate in decision-making at the local governance level.
It formed part of the Enhancing Social Inclusion in Local Governance (ESILG) project being implemented by RAINS with funding from STAR-Ghana.
The excluded groups that took part in the training held at Walewale, including women, the youth and Persons With Disability, were drawn from West Mamprusi and Gusheigu Municipalities of the Northern Region.
At least 80 leaders of excluded groups took part in the training which sought to build their capacity, facilitate participation and promote social accountability in local governance.
The project, whose target is to engage 200 excluded groups within a year, complements the already existing interventions RAINS had implemented in the two municipalities.
Madam Wedadu Sayibu, Programme Manager of RAINS, said it was to help create a platform to train and empower leaders of the excluded groups to demand and hold duty bearers accountable.
“The project seeks to ensure equality in decision-making by organising series of engagements including interface meetings between the excluded groups and their district assemblies.
“It is also to enable them to understand operations of decentralised system as well as ensure their voices are included in the Medium Term Development Planning at the municipal level.
“Under the project, RAINS will also organise inter-community durbars to review progress of the project in targeted groups at various communities to help ensure its effective implementation.
“Let’s make it our responsibility to enlighten and share what we have learnt with our members in various communities to ensure that our rights and concerns are heard and included in activities concerning communities’ development,” Madam Sayibu stressed.
Mohammed Kamel Damma, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at RAINS, who made a presentation at the training, advised participants to ensure that they identified most pressing needs and follow laid down rules and regulations to ensure duty bearers addressed them amicably.
He urged them to scrutinise their challenges before taking any action to demand solutions to them to promote socio-economic development in their communities.
Participants lauded the training as it enlightened them on their rights and responsibilities, acknowledging they faced challenges in their communities but lacked skills and knowledge on how to push them to policymakers for solutions. -GNA
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