WACSI Strengthens the Capacity of Civil Society Practitioners from West Africa on Financial Management and Budgetary Control

The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) delivered a training on Financial Management and Budgetary Control for civil society practitioners from West Africa. The training took take place from August 15 – 17, 2012 at the Institute’s Training Centre in Accra, Ghana. The training enabled participants to understand and know how to utilise financial and accounting systems effectively within their organisations.

The training incorporated a Business Edge module on financial management for small and medium size enterprises, developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This module has been tailored and is being delivered to civil society practitioners to equip them with requisite skills to adopt the best financial management practices within their respective organisations. The training made use of practical exercises to enhance the understanding of theoretical concepts on financial management for corporate bodies. It gave participants an opportunity to critically examine the financial procedures put in place and utilised by their respective organisations.

Participants at the training were given valuable time to share their experiences on how their organisations have presented and reported their use of funds. This enabled them to learn best and successful financial management practices from other participants at the training.

According to Ms. Ruth Bropleh, Finance Officer of Alternatives for Genuine Democratic Transformations (AGENDA) Liberia, “I have acquired knowledge on new ways of archiving information and financial records of my organisation by scanning and saving a soft copy of every important financial document. This course has enabled me to understand the need to incorporate the views of all project staff in the development, spending and reporting of project funds in AGENDA”.

The training enabled participants to understand that, a comprehensive and detailed reporting of the finances of an organisation boosts its credibility as a genuine and financially reliable partner for development to its funders, auditors and other stakeholders.

Participants expressed their satisfaction with the training content and the delivery of the training. According to Mr. Justin Dery from Mission of Hope International (MIHOSO) Ghana, “the knowledge I have acquired from this training will help me to contribute in improving the accounting systems of MIHOSO International by ensuring that we appropriately document and report our finances, and, stand out as a financially transparent organisation.

The training, which brought together practitioners from civil society organisations (CSOs) in Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana enabled participants to enhance their mastery of essential financial processes and best accounting practices which will be implemented to improve the budgetary control procedures in their organsations. Participants were awarded certificates of participation issued by IFC and WACSI.