Gender Sensitization and Mainstreaming workshop for Parliamentary Staff

The workshop formed part of the Parliamentary Support Project’s effort at equipping key Parliamentary Committees with the relevant and basic gender planning skills towards enhancing gender mainstreaming in the work of Parliament in Ghana. It also responds to CIDA’s Gender Strategy in Ghana which amongst others outlines the need ‘to strengthen the capacity of targeted Ghanaian institutions and organizations to integrate gender equality considerations’. More ...

The Role of the Media in the Sustenance of Parliamentary Democracy

The Ghana Parliamentary Committee’s Support Project Phase II organized a two day workshop on “The Role of the Media in the Sustenance of Parliamentary Democracy” for 30 representatives from the Parliamentary Press Corps. This workshop formed part of efforts aimed at enhancing capacity to achieve more effective parliamentary democracy in Ghana. Specifically the weekend workshop contributed towards developing a more effective parliamentary press corps that reports effectively on the business of Parliament as part of efforts aimed at strengthen accountability, transparency and participation in the parliamentary governance of Ghana with particular attention to poverty reduction. More ...

Members of the Poverty Reduction Committee of Ghana Parliament meet in Swedru to review the GPRSII document

The Ghana Parliamentary Committee Support Project II supported a meeting of members of the Poverty Reduction Committee of Parliament to review the GPRSII document before its implementation. This forms part of a series of project initiatives including capacity building programs and engagement with CSOs aimed at increasing the committee’s participation in the PRSP process. More ...

The Ghana Parliamentary Committee Support Project holds its annual Project Steering Committee Meeting

The objective of this annual PSC meeting held on the 26 th of April 2006, was to review the Year 2 activities ending March 2006 and to approve the work plan and budget for Year 3 beginning April 2006 to March 2007. More ...

Hands-On ICT Training for Chairpersons of Six Parliamentary Committees in Ghana starts

The chairpersons of six key Parliamentary Committees in Ghana have begun hands-on sessions in basics in ICTs as part of the CIDA funded GPCSPII. The training sessions are carried out in the fully networked Africa Poverty Reduction Office of the Parliamentary Centre in Osu, Accra Ghana by the Information Resource Co-ordinators(IRCs). More ...

Members of Parliament examine matters relating to local government and rural development in Ghana

Representatives of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development of the Parliament of Ghana toured three Districts in the VoltaRegion in February 2006. The team made up of five Members of Parliament (MPs), two Ghana Parliament staff members, and a representative from the Parliamentary Centre’s GPCSPII undertook a tour of Kpando District, the Hohoe District and the Ho Municipality in the Volta region over a five-day period. The field visit forms part of the committee’s oversight responsibilities, examining matters relating to local government and rural development in Ghana.

Full Report - Photo Gallery

Parliament Assures Pro-poor Policy Implementation

The Ghana Parliamentary Select Committee on Government Assurances followed-up on three key pro-poor policies in the most deprived Northern Regions of Ghana. During the 4-day field visit in July 2005, twelve members of the Committee interacted with three rural farming communities, officials of service agencies, and CSOs working in the various communities to provide the MPs with first-hand knowledge on the impact of three Government policies on specified vulnerable people and allow the Committee to draw up recommendations. More ...

Ensuring a voice for Ghanaian women

As representative of the people, Parliament’s responsibility is to all Ghanaians, both men and women. In a context where women count for only 11% of elected Members, it is important to both increase the capacity of the women members to participate effectively in parliamentary and committee work; as well as raise awareness among all MPs, men and women, of the importance of taking gender into account - understanding how a society’s concept of “man and “woman” leads to inequalities - in all actions, from policy-making to budget review

To this effect, a Gender Analysis of the 2005 Budget was prepared to assist Committees in their scrutiny of the budget. The analysis concludes that though the 2005 budget has made efforts to respond to the needs of women, allocating resources in a non-discriminatory manner may not result in removing the inequities in access to development resources and therefore may not achieve the level of development effectiveness that a gender-aware budget might.

Gender Analysis of the 2005 Budget

Developing Strategies for Pro-poor Budgeting

The budget has been described as the most important economic policy tool of a government and provides a comprehensive statement of the priorities of a nation. The Annual Committee Workshop allowed members of key parliamentary committees to prepare for their review of the budget. More…

The Way Forward - Lessons from Ghana’s Parliamentary Committees

"Ghana’s parliamentary committees have continually taken initiatives to open up new directions – launching hearings across the country, drawing in civil society groups to consult about policy changes, building ties to policy institutes for advice, and assessing government responsiveness to previous recommendations made."

Four years of experience in oversight, deliberations on policies and committee work: this is what the members of key committees of Ghana’s last Parliament have compiled for the benefit of the Committees of the Fourth Parliament elected in December 2004. Compiled during the 2004 Annual Committee Workshop in Elmina last July, the publication was launched at the 2005 Annual Workshop in February, the first for the newly-elected MPs.