AMA engages stakeholders on progress of ICA pilot programme in Accra

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has engaged stakeholders in the city on the progress of the Inclusive Climate Action Pilot Programme (ICA) in Accra.

The stakeholders’ engagement which was supported by the C40 Cities, a climate leadership group sought to among other things showcase the progress of the city’s action on informal sector inclusion and integration through the Inclusive Climate Action Programme, provide a supplementary space for interdepartmental collaboration on ICA as well as outdoor and disseminate key advocacy materials produced to support informal sector integration goals.

The event which was attended by representatives from academia, government, civil society and the media also served as a platform for city and stakeholder consultations on the future of waste informal sector engagement.

Speaking at the event, Waste Management Director at the AMA, Engr. Solomon Noi said the goal of the Assembly was to divert 50 per cent of the municipal solid waste from the landfills to ensure the continuity of its climate mitigation and adaptation programs.

He attributed the limited landfills in the city to urbanisation adding that this had encouraged circularity by processing waste.

“In the city of Accra, we do not have enough space, everywhere is built up... We used to have a lot of dumping sites and all of them have been closed down all in support of our climate mitigation and adaptation programs,” he noted.

He pointed out that the Assembly had created a platform to educate and enlighten the informal waste sector on its policies and processes as well as categorize them into cooperatives to measure their contributions in the Metropolis as part of efforts to integrate the informal sector waste workers into the Assembly CPA.

On Waste recycling, Engr. Solomon Noi said, “the Assembly would soon organise training programmes for informal waste sector workers on sector separation of waste which would help separate organic waste from plastic or paper adding that the organic waste will be processed into Biogas to support domestic and commercial work.

Mr. Noi also revealed that the AMA was working with the Sanitation ministry to procure logistics to support the informal waste sector to improve their operations in the Metropolis stressing the Assembly was working assiduously to acquire a mobile station and position articulator trucks at vantage points to solve the inadequate dumping sites in the city.

According to the ICA city advisor for Accra, Josephine Agbeko, C40 cities over the last two years embarked on a series of events directed towards creating a serene environment for informal sector engagement.

“In the last two years, we have worked to create a space for engaging informal sector workers, creating a safe space for the sought of engagement, prioritizing their participation, their voices, their visibility in these processes. We have delivered a needs assessment process with participation with informal sector workers, " she said.

She also said C40 had liaised with the Assembly’s political and technical teams to draft policy frameworks which outlined steps taken to improve engagement with the informal sector whilst demonstrating the importance of the needs assessment program to track the work of the informal sector workers in the metropolis.

She noted that C40 cities embarked on advocacy drives in the city to promote public positive perceptions of informal workers to improve public acceptance, accelerate integration and improve participation in city processes.

Since 2021, the city of Accra has been implementing the Inclusive Climate Action Pilot Programme focused on strengthening collaboration between the city and informal waste sector workers for climate resilience.

The delivery of the programme has included, among others, technical assistance for regional and local convenings, the development of knowledge products and a policy framework, capacity building, and informal sector integration advocacy campaigns.

Some of the tools showcased at the event include a Working Paper to advocate for the integration of informal waste workers into local economies and an Informal Waste Sector Engagement Policy Framework among others.