Ghana Holds 14th Consultative Group Meetings

Development Partners promise US$5.7 billion over the next four years (2007-2010) While Government confirms $5.8 billion over the next three years (2007-2009)

Accra, June 19, 2007: The Government of Ghana and its Development Partners convened on June 18th-19th, 2007, in Accra, Ghana, for a Consultative Group Annual Partnership Meeting, honoured by the overall leadership of H.E. the President of Ghana, John A. Kufuor, and with the participation of representatives from Parliament, private sector, and civil society. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered the opening address and noted that the Millennium Declaration affirmed the important ways that human rights and human development are mutually reinforcing. She gave specific examples of how a human rights framework is important in the areas of health, trade and employment, corporate responsibility, and gender, and urged Ghana and its development partners to enhance their efforts in this area.

The two day Annual Partnership Meeting covered a broad range of issues, starting with constraints and opportunities for accelerating growth and poverty reduction on Monday, June 18th, and progressing to a discussion on the second day of results achieved during 2006, resources available for development programs, and how effectively the aid partnership is working. Participants also looked towards the future, with an examination of the government’s strategy for scaling up achievements in line with Ghana’s middle income aspirations, the resources that are likely to be available over the next few years, the initiatives to secure value for money, and how partnership arrangements are evolving to support priority programs and reduce transaction costs. In the course of these discussions, Participants:

reviewed and endorsed the Ghana Partnership Results Matrix as a monitoring tool to track selected GPRS II results, Government actions, and DP contributions; confirmed the scale up reflected in the Ghana Partnership Resource Overview, rising from the actual level of $1.2 billion DP disbursements in 2006 to a projected $1.4 billion in 2010, representing an estimated $5.7 billion over the next four years (2007-2010); Government confirmed that spending on GPRS II priority programs from domestic resources (including HIPC and MDRI flows) is expected to reach at least $5.8 billion over the next three years (2007-2009); and committed to the higher level of harmonization contained in the 2007/08 Ghana Harmonization Action Plan.

The second day concluded with an animated discussion of human resource challenges and options for strengthening service delivery and enhancing the country’s skilled labour pool. The Consultative Group closed with remarks from H.E. the President of Ghana, John A. Kufuor.

Partners noted that 2007 is a jubilee year in which the people of Ghana and Ghana’s partners are celebrating 50 years since the founding of the sovereign state of Ghana. The partners expressed their satisfaction with the achievements related to poverty reduction as reported by Ghana Statistical Service, and communicated their hope that the coming year would see even stronger progress in meeting the aspirations of the people of Ghana. Government expressed its strong appreciation for the efforts of Partners to support the interests of all the people of Ghana.

Participants agreed to convene again in June 2008 to take stock of the evolving Ghana Partnership. In the lead up to the 2008 Consultative Group meeting, Participants agreed to: update the Partnership Results Framework to capture the latest information on 2007 results, actions, and DP contributions; to monitor the predictability and level of Resources being provided by Government and Development Partners, expanding coverage if possible to emerging partners not currently included; and to intensify the mutual accountability of the Partnership through an independent review of aid effectiveness. Participants welcomed the discussion papers prepared by Government to inform meeting discussions and encouraged the CG Co-Chairs to retain this modality for the next Partnership Meeting (increasingly building on regular government mechanisms such as the APR and the MTEF). It was also suggested that the analytic foundation underpinning the financing gap be updated for review and discussion at the next CG.

The Co-chairs of the Ghana Consultative Group Annual Partnership Meeting were:

Hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu (MP), Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Mats Karlsson, Country Director of the World Bank

### For more information on the World Bank’s activities in Ghana please visit: www.worldbank.org/ghana

For more information about the World Bank in Sub Saharan Africa visit: www.worldbank.org/afr