USAID

USAID-GHANA PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY ACTIVITY (PAA)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has executed a cooperative agreement with Democracy International (DI) to implement the project, Performance Accountability Activity (PAA) in Ghana. The PAA will build on existing Ghanaian strategies, programs and capacities, and leverage related support being provided by USAID and other donors to reinforce ongoing efforts in Ghana to promote transparent, accountable and inclusive governance over a five-year period. The project is essential for achieving higher quality, more responsive public sector service delivery and the PAA will focus on accountability in local public sector service delivery

The PAA has three primary objectives to: (1) increase citizens’ demand for responsive service delivery by supporting the capacity of local organizations to connect citizens and promote citizens’ preferences to government bodies; (2) improve the efficiency of government service delivery by promoting more rigorous regulatory standards and good governance capacity; (3) and embolden public service providers at the local level to adhere to quality standards by deepening the link between core Ghanaian values and standards of performance.

Under this activity, DI and the USAID intends to deploy an integrated multi-sectoral, collaborative and behavior-led approach to support Ghana’s commitment to sustainable growth, inclusion, and self-reliance as part of measures to improve the quality and accountability of public service delivery in Ghana. These processes will be supported by other strategic choices for private sector engagement, entrepreneurial innovations as well as monitoring, evaluation and learning tools. The interventions when implemented will lead to a paradigm shift in mindsets, behaviors and attitudes among staff and members of local governments, traditional authorities, citizen groups and associations as well as citizens and private sector.

The activity is consistent with the projections made in the USAID-Ghana Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) [2020-2025] and the Development Objective 2 focused on “Quality Services Delivered with Increased Accountability”. Specifically, the USAID will support Ghana to achieve improved accountability in the delivery of quality services in health, education, fisheries, agriculture and WASH such that performance improvements are recorded in a number of areas including:

health care providers adhering to service standards;
teacher attendance and time on task improvements;
pelagic overfishing ceases and coastal communities preserve livelihoods;
small holder farmers linked to markets;
regular supply of potable water with community hygiene

Systems will also be strengthened to among others ensure that:

national policies are adopted to enhance and sustain the delivery of basic and essential quality services;
local authorities implement policies for efficient service delivery;
service providers adhere to national standards; and
citizens participate in elections, as well as governance processes, to demand responsive governance, and take charge of their own well-being by insisting on quality services.
supply chains for health and agriculture commodities are secured;
strengthening social protection of the vulnerable;
supporting fisher-folk livelihoods and horticulture out-grower networks;
helping off-grid energy companies to adopt continuity plans to maintain services to customers; and
providing a radio-formatted reading program that will reach targeted groups more effectively and efficiently across the country.

The Development Hypothesis or Theory of Change informing this Activity is that, If the national government leads policy implementation for efficient service delivery; if local authorities manage policy implementation for efficient service delivery; if service providers adhere to national quality standards; and if citizens demand responsive governance, then the accountable delivery of quality services will be achieved.

Having recognized the strategic role of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) in Ghana, DI intends to work with ILGS as its prime partner in the areas of local government capacity building and institutional strengthening throughout the beneficiary regions and districts.

The Need for Intervention:

The 2019 Afrobarometer (Round 8) Survey report indicated a decline in citizens’ approval ratings on government performance in public service delivery. Between 2017 and 2019, service sectors (i.e., health, education, electricity supply, water, and sanitation) experienced an 8 percent decline in approval ratings. The report also noted that these sectors were among the most problematic areas in need of government support. Eighty percent of citizens surveyed indicated that the government has done little, or nothing at all to strengthen service delivery in these areas. For example, according to USAID/Ghana’s Gender Analysis (2020), women’s groups are increasingly invited to interface with local authorities to identify community needs and concerns, but their needs are not being met in most instances.

A number of factors have contributed to this perspective of citizens and notable amongst these are:

Inadequate implementation of policies, which is a key political economy constraint to service delivery in Ghana. At the local level, service delivery requires the devolution of fiscal and administrative authority to the district assemblies so they can effectively deliver on their mandate, but these remain daunting as the case for education and health as well as many other sectors remain in practice, highly centralized.
Insufficiencies in oversight of service provider performance
Inadequate human resource planning and retention and poor coverage of essential supplies and commodities;
Requirements for mobilizing service users to act collectively to demand quality services
Insufficient coordination among GoG agencies also contributes to and exacerbates poor quality of services. Coordinating agencies involved in quality management need to imbibe and institutionalize a culture where quality is recognized, demanded, and rewarded.

Therefore, the PAA will create an urgency for (1) national government institutions to provide leadership in policy conceptualization and formulation for efficient service delivery; (2) local authorities to facilitate responsive, effective and efficient planning, execution and management of basic public service delivery; (3) service providers to adhere to national quality standards; and (4) citizens to demand responsive governance and ultimately promoting transparent, accountable and inclusive governance. The PAA will therefore focus on the three primary objectives of:

Increasing citizens’ demand for responsive service delivery by supporting the capacity of local organizations to connect citizens and promote citizens’ preferences to government bodies;
Improving the efficiency of government service delivery by promoting more rigorous regulatory standards and good governance capacity; and
Emboldening public service providers at the local level to adhere to quality standards by deepening the link between core Ghanaian values and standards of performance.

We draw on SBS insights to design interventions, test messaging, understand why government is not effectively providing services, or why CSO-government relationships and feedback mechanisms fail to function cooperatively. We will leverage social norms to inform campaigns that shift views on relevant issues, such as gender dynamics. Often, evidence is generated in a way that is not integrated into local actors’ initiatives. To avoid this, DI will support local partners to identify and fill knowledge gaps and present information effectively in local languages with practical recommendations.

PROPOSED INTERVENTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

OBJECTIVE 1: Citizens Demand Responsive Service Delivery

OBJECTIVE 2: Government Manages Policy Implementation for Effective Service Delivery