Strengthening Service Delivery Systems in Northern Ghana
Highlights
- Stronger local government in Northern Ghana can improve delivery of services responsive to people’s needs.
- Abt’s approach facilitates partnerships among public and private sectors and civil society organizations to improve nutrition and resilience.
- Key to this is mobilizing communities to demand quality services and participate in local planning processes.
Ghana has made tremendous gains in improving its citizens’ wellbeing, halving the number of people living in poverty and improving chronic malnutrition rates. Yet Northern Ghana lags, as it is home to 75% of the country’s poorest citizens, and food insecurity there remains high. Local governments in this region face hurdles in responding to these needs, as they have limited control and visibility into finances and budgets as well as high staff turnover. Women and youth are especially likely to be left behind, as they are often excluded from local governance and decision-making processes.
USAID RING II Systems Strengthening is a five-year, $21.9 million contract awarded to Abt in 2022 in partnership with three Ghanaian organizations: Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), and Youth Advocacy on Rights and Opportunities (YARO). Together we are delivering inclusive, citizen-led solutions that support four regions in northern Ghana to:
- Plan, finance, and deliver services that respond to the populations’ needs
- Use USAID funding to improve public-private-citizen coordination across the agriculture, health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene sectors
- Enable Ghanaian citizens to advocate for and participate in local governance.
Abt will coordinate with the Government of Ghana and local partners to enhance local governance systems, catalyze access to social services, and transform institutional capacities to scale service delivery. We also will expand gender equity and social inclusion goals toward improved nutrition and resilience of women of reproductive age and children under five.
Over five years, USAID RING II Systems Strengthening will work in 17 districts and four regions in Northern Ghana to:
- Improve the nutritional status and resilience of vulnerable populations
- Enhance local governance systems, optimize resources, and strengthen the capacities of institutions to scale up service delivery
- Promote gender equity and social inclusion progress in citizen-led local government reform
- Encourage investment through an innovative grants program that will expand sustainable multisectoral nutrition and resilience programming by mobilizing communities.
Learn more:
Abt's global expertise in Multisectoral Nutrition