The Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) has organised a capacity-building workshop for Accountability Labs (ALs), within the Mfantseman Municipality in the Central Region to enhance grassroots democracy and social accountability.The Accountability Labs engender social accountability by supporting active citizenship.The workshop, supported by STAR-Ghana Foundation under the project dubbed Action for Voice for Inclusive Development (AVID-2) aimed to equip young leaders and active citizens with the skills and knowledge necessary to influence local governance and advocate effectively for their communities.It was also meant to build, sustain and amplify community voices to advocate and claim their rights whilst holding duty bearers accountable.The trained youth were selected from various communities, including Anokye, Ewoyaa, Abonkor, Krampakrom, Krofu, Ansaadze, and Afrangjuah within the Mfantseman municipality.The Head of Policy and Programmes at ISODEC, Mr Bernard Anaba, said that over the years, the communities had not been able to come together and mobilise for action due to their low level of consciousness and inability to galvanise mass movements and articulate their issues using tools and strategies that will enable them to sustain social action for change.Thus, he said the capacity building exercise was organised to raise youth awareness and empower them to actively address shared challenges through volunteering and community-driven initiatives, particularly focusing on issues relative to the negative impacts of mining and the effects of climate change on access to clean water.Mr Anaba explained that ISODEC had recently gathered data on community needs, paving the way for the workshop to deepen participants' understanding of their roles in local decision-making and access to social accountability mechanisms.The Assistant Development Planner at the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly, Mr Sakyi Julius, disclosed that during the needs assessment to develop the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP), it emerged that water was the major concern affecting the communities as a result the Assembly had taken a decision to drill mechanised boreholes in the communities using the District Assembly Common Fund.Mr Michael Tettey, a volunteer at ISODEC, educated participants on how to submit petitions and the responsibilities of the Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies.He led a discussion on how community members could participate in the local governance processes, adding that the discussions focused on the purpose of the Client Service Unit, its functions and responsibilities.He also discussed the purpose of the Public Relations and Complaints Committee (PRCC) and its functions.On his part Mr Kojo Bondzie, a youth representative from Abonko, shared that although he regularly visited the Municipal Assembly as a Unit Committee Member, he was unaware of the existence of some committees until he participated in the workshop."As a unit committee member, I now know that a committee exists at the Assembly to resolve complaints or issues.
It was good I participated in this training program," Mr Bondzie stated. BY KINGSLEY ASARE
