ILGS SARTURDAY SCHOOL

The Ghana Research and Advocacy Programme has partners working in a wide range of areas with implications for the day-to-day lives of Ghanaians. Their work has been in governance, security and peace-building, economy, livelihoods, gender, human resources development amongst others. A considerable amount of the work has been within communities and on district basis, illustrated with local case studies. Since Ghana’s local government system has responsibility for local, social, physical economic development, the research findings have implications for the effective functioning of assemblies and regional coordinating councils. Effective advocacy is also required with assemblies, which are the level of government nearest the people and whose actions affect the people’s well-being.

Assemblies are required to ensure effective service delivery, local economic development and equitable opportunities for growth and participation in governance for all Ghanaians in their localities. The findings from particular districts generated by Research and Advocacy Organizations (RAOs) could provide lessons for other districts and ultimately the implementation and review of the decentralization policy.

To date, the findings and lessons from the work of RAOs have been available to the specific partner districts, the programme (G-RAP) and perhaps the academics who were involved in the study or the organization. However, as indicated above, the studies could provide insights and lessons more widely or be reinforced by other issues in the decentralisation process generally. The questions that arise include:

- How can these research findings and insights be made available to a wider audience in the local government sector?
- How can the lessons and findings be used to foster advocacy by partner in civil society and the non-governmental sector with local and national policy makers and actors?
- How can wider public education on issues of decentralization of local governance be fostered and enriched by the work of the RAOs?

It is in this regard that a proposal for “RAOs Communicating with Stakeholders in Decentralization and Local Governance Through Saturday Institutes and Publications” is being made by the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS).

The Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS)

ILGS was established in 1999 to promote capacity building for effectiveness in local governance through education and training; research, advisory and consultancy services; information mobilisation and dissemination. In 2003, its’ Act, Act 647 added a range of other functions to these including
• Promoting research in local government;
• Developing training materials for members of the Regional Co-ordinating Councils, District Assemblies, and other local government units;
• Publishing literature relevant to local government; and
• Collaborating with national and international institutions of relevance in the performance of its functions.

The Institute has over the years built relationships with RAOs including ABANTU for Development, the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG). The Institute has participated actively in various fora and advocacy efforts of other RAOs including Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Third World Network (TWN) and the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA).

However, the Institute has other links outside the RAO community. These are in the governmental and civil society sectors, which could benefit from the knowledge generated by RAOs. These include the parent ministry, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment (MLGRDE) and related ministries of Education, Manpower Development, Employment and Youth. The Institute collaborates with civil society organizations like the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development and traditional authorities.

Therefore, in order to facilitate access of these parties, other stakeholders in national development policy-making and governance, the Institute proposes to undertake activities in line with its mandate and functions. To this end, ILGS proposes to bridge the communication gap by

- Organizing fora at which lessons, models and proposals emanating from the work of RAOs with critical insights for local authorities and local governance will be shared;
- Create opportunities for raising wider public awareness and education on local development, governance and decentralization; and using these studies for better illustration
- Package the lessons and insights emerging from public discussions for wide circulation and reference, in the form of thematic studies in local development and governance.

The Saturday Institutes Concept

The Institute has considered the organization of monthly Saturday Institutes as a vehicle for public education. The elements of the Saturday Institutes include:
- wide public access; the main qualifications for participation are an involvement or an interest in local government and decentralization;
- regular fora (preferably monthly) on clear inter-linked themes relevant to topical issues in local and national development;
- adoption of a public deliberation method
- a clear channel for collating and communicating the results of these encounters in integrating them into policy review and practice.

Methodology

ILGS proposes to harness and disseminate the lessons and outcomes with relevance for local development and governance through a two-part approach (Saturday Institutes and publications).

To this end, the Institute will

1. organize and conduct eight Saturday Institutes between March and May, 2007 hosted by the two campuses of ILGS (Accra and Tamale) and a venue in Kumasi, consisting of the following components:

2. capture the contextual analyses, case studies and emerging policy and practice issues into a thematic journal for wider public access and consumption.