CDD African Governance Report launched

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday March 29, 2011.
THIS YEAR’S African Governance Report (AGR), the most comprehensive biennial report that monitors and assesses the progress African countries are making on governance has been launched in Accra.

Initiated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) with assistance from the UNDP, the report identifies capacity gaps in governance institutions and makes appropriate policy recommendations aimed at improving governance on the continent.

The 2011 Ghana Governance Assessment will be on the theme “Elections and the management of diversity in Africa” and the Center for Democratic Governance (CDD) has been commissioned to coordinate compilation of the Ghana report.

In the AGR report, a decentralized approach is adopted in the preparation and national steering committees and is composed of different stakeholders that are formed to ensure inclusiveness and broad consultations.

As a result, a national steering committee chaired by Lloyd Amoah of Ashesi University was also inaugurated by the CDD and the committee’s task will be to monitor compilation of the report.

Launching the project, Prof. Miranda Greenstreet, former Director of the Institute of Adult Education, University of Ghana underscored the need for all researchers to work towards the production of a report that would improve governance on the continent.

“The AGR report has become perhaps the most important and strategic knowledge and policy document on governance in Africa. Among other things, the report has become a tool for policy dialogue, a reference material for scholars, policy makers, and civil society organizations.”

She added: “it is a veritable instrument for identifying good practices across countries. The report constitutes the background material used in the African Peer Review Mechanism process in most countries.”

Giving the overview of the report, Kwasi Ampratwum of the CDD revealed that the reports of 2005 and 2009 which recommended vital solutions to erase deficits in governance in Africa were grossly under utilized by most African governments.

“The issue of governance is at the heart of Africa’s development and we should nurture that towards the consolidation of democracy.”

He said the project is focusing on elections because it has become a veritable document that brings real democracy to the continent.

Explaining the methodology for the AGR III Project, Daniel Armah-Attoh of the CDD said they will use data gathering techniques such as expert opinion surveys, focused group discussions and desk research to reach between 120 and 150 respondents.

He said all countries taking part in the project will use the same research instruments validated by the UNECA.

Lloyd Amoah in his acceptance remarks on behalf of the committee said they will work to get a report that would bring real reforms to governance on the continent.