Exploring the Relevance of Civil Society Organisations and Media Partnership for Promoting Social Accountability in Local Governance in Upper West Region, Ghana
Abstract
Despite the importance of community participation in local governance, the inputs of community members on issues of local governance seem little in district assemblies in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Social accountability is not a privilege for civil society organisations and citizens, but it is their right as tax-payers and citizens to actively participate in development decisions that affect them. This paper argues that such rights can be better actualised through innovative social interventions of civil society organisations (CSOs) and stakeholders in local governance. The study assumes that until district assemblies and development partners collaboratively work with communities to create a sense of inclusiveness in local governance, the implementation of development projects would hardly be beneficial. It employed a qualitative research approach. Data was sourced from in-depth interview of implementers of a novel social intervention project and review of write-ups of journalists on development issues in the Upper West Region. Content analysis was employed to analyse thirteen sampled articles of journalists to identify issues of social accountability. Through analysis of an innovative social intervention project of Action for Sustainable Development collaboratively carried out with the media in the Upper West Region, the paper gives some insights on emerging issues about CSOs’ innovative social intervention in local governance in the Upper West Region of Ghana.
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