CSOs urged to support national development

Dr. Christian Joly, Cooperation Attaché at the Embassy of France in Ghana, on Tuesday urged Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the country to contribute meaningfully towards the nation’s development.

He said CSOs had a major role to play in the socio-economic, political and cultural needs of a country and that Civil Societies in Ghana had over the years been a reliable development partner .

Dr. Joly said this at the launch of the last phase of a Civil Society e-directory website for Ghana in Cape Coast, which was attended by CSOs from the Volta, Eastern and Central Regions .

The website which was jointly built by UNPD and The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), is to map out CSOs working at different levels in the country and provide information on CSOs based on regional location and areas of specialization.

The Civil Society directory website is designed to facilitate timely and comprehensive information on organizations and institutions relevant to the Ghanaian Civil Society community.

The innovation also seeks to stimulate greater collaboration, networking, information sharing and capacity building to enhance partnership among CSOs in Ghana, as well as serve as a primary source of information to CSOs and their stakeholders .

Dr. Joly expressed happiness that Civil societies in Ghana were benefiting from “freedom of expression and action” and that Ghana had a vibrant Civil Society which had enabled them to contribute greatly in areas of agriculture, education, health; as well as contribute to the growth of democracy, accountability and responsiveness of the government of Ghana to its people.

He observed that a healthy dialogue between CSOs and government and other International organizations was very important and that the website should be used to facilitate contacts and collaborations to avoid duplication of projects and programmes among CSOs world-wide.

Dr. Joly tasked them to use the website as a tool that would help them to effectively structure and promote their work. He stressed that the website would only be useful if they participated and disseminated the information they assessed from the website for the development and growth of the CSOs in Ghana.

He commended the UNDP, WACSI and the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare for their contributions towards the establishment of the website and gave the assurance that the French embassy would continue to support the activities of CSOs in Ghana.

Mr. Harrison Owusu, leader and researcher of the project who showed the participants how the website could be accessed, said about 1,049 CSOs had been hooked to the website so far, and urged those that had not yet connected, to do so.

The website which has already been launched in the Greater Accra, Northern and Ashanti regions, has the address www.civilsociety.org.gh **