MANAGEMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING

The Institute’s training and education services are intended to facilitate continuing professional development for effective local governance in Ghana. Educational programmes tailored to suit the requirements of local government functionaries and stakeholders and are conducted on-site as well as through distance learning and experience-sharing events.

Background

The Education and Training Department of the Institute is responsible among others for:

• Arranging courses, workshops, seminars and conferences for persons engaged in areas of local government
• Developing training materials for members of the Regional Coordinating Councils, District Assemblies and lower government units

The courses designed by the department are categorized into:

• 3-month certificate programme
• 2-week skill-based short courses
• 2-5 day orientation courses
• Tailor made courses in collaboration with local governance partners

Since 1999 the department has designed and organised courses, workshops, conferences, etc in keeping with its responsibilities. It has developed training manuals and trained over 9,000 persons in areas of local governance including:

• Decentralization and Local Government Administration
• District Development Planning
• Local Government Financial Management
• Local Environmental Management and Sanitation
• District level Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
• Local Economic Development
• Public-Private Partnership
• Local Tourism Development, and
• Leadership Skills

Between 1999 and 2005 the average number of trainees per year was 1500.

Target Group

The beneficiaries of training and education activities include

• District Chief Executives
• Presiding Members
• District Coordinating Directors
• District Planning Officers
• District Finance Officers
• District Budget Officers
• District Engineers,
• Assembly Members,
• District Environmental Health Officers
• Local Government Inspectors,
• Traditional Authorities, etc.

On-Going Training Events

In collaboration with Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Institute is conducting series of training programmes for appointed assembly members in all ten regions of Ghana. The training content include:

- The Role of Appointed Assembly Members and the Committee System

- Emerging Trends in Local Government – DDF/FOAT

- Transparency and Accountability in Local Government

- Participatory Approaches in Management of Assemblies

- Local Resource Mobilisation

- The Role of Appointed Assembly Members and the Committee System

It is estimated that 2200 Appointed Assembly members will benefit from the training.

The department is in the process of finalization arrangements for the conduct of series of nation-wide training programmes on the Disbursement  and Management of Public Funds in Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.

- In 2008 it secured funding from District Assembly Common Fund (DACF), IBIS, USAID funded Government Accountability Improves Trust Programme (GAIT II), and  VNG (Holland) to organize training activities for assembly functionaries in areas including Participatory Approaches in the Management of Assemblies, Ethics and Accountability, Participatory Resource Mobilisation, and Participatory Development Planning and Budgeting.

- The department has broadened its scope of disciplines with the introduction of Gender Mainstreaming and Work Place HIV and AIDS programmes.

- The department at the request of the Decentralisation Secretariat in 2007/2008, developed four modules (on Human Resource Management, Financial Management, Organisation and Management and Development Planning) for the training of local government functionaries.