To end its Sixth Country Programme (CP6) with the government of Ghana, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 held a closure meeting with its national implementing partners in Accra.
During the period of the Country Programme – 2012 to 2016 – selected Implementing Partners (IPs) and the UNFPA agreed to implement programmes towards the achievement of access to sexual and reproductive health, reproductive rights and the reduction of maternal mortality in the country.
The objectives of the CP6 were to bridge equity gaps in geographical access to health services, improve efficiency in governance and management of the health system by strengthening the enabling environment for sexual reproductive health service delivery and improve quality of health services delivery through training of health workers.
It also sought to enhance national capacity for the attainment of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ensure the reduction of new HIV and AIDS/sexually transmitted infections by supporting Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) interventions.
Addressing the IPs, the Assistant Representative of the UNFPA, Mr M. Bawa Amadu, said the CP6 responded to the objectives of the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda, (GSGDA) which were to accelerate efforts and commitments in empowering women to have safe and secure livelihoods while addressing disparities in health. Others are to speed up enforcement and domestication of ratified treaties and policies adopted by the government to tackle violence and discrimination.
In-depth review
Mr Amadu indicated that the UNFPA country office undertook an in-depth review of the CP6 in 2016 to review progress and to inform the development of the subsequent country programmes.
The review, he said, showed that implementation of the CP6 led to enhanced production, utilisation and dissemination of quality statistical data for population dynamics, prevention of gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices and delivery of comprehensive maternal health services.
“There was also increasing demand for modern contraceptives and improvement in quality family planning services, as well as delivery of integrated adolescent sexual reproductive health services,” he said
Mr Amadu pointed out that Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC) services were scaled up, while policies on skilled birth attendance and midwifery training were reviewed.
Furthermore, he said national policies were formulated to deal with issues of gender, population, midwifery, reproductive health, youth, health and gender, in addition to a survey on obstetric fistula and an in-depth situational analysis of adolescent girls and women.
Lessons
The lessons drawn out of the review were that with sustained capacity building, decentralised structures could deliver results to the local communities more effectively compared to the central government systems, Mr Amadu observed.
It was also realised that government leadership and coordination of programmes contributed to achievement of results and sustainability, and also effective implementation arrangements contributed to achievement of results.
Recommendations
The review, therefore, recommended among other things, that the UNFPA should develop synergy and leverage resources by working with other UN agencies and development partners.
The programme, it was suggested, should, in addition to current targeted areas, prioritise the urban poor while population and development should be scaled up in the next country programme to ensure harnessing of the demographic dividend.
It was also recommended that the UNFPA should apply its business model with caution because health indicators were still not fully improved.
Decentralisation
The Director, Research, Statistics and Information Management of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mrs Dorothy Onny, noted that the ministry facilitated the adoption of decentralised governance structure to enable the UNFPA to disburse funds to IPs and through the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) and districts.
“This innovation in the fund transfer arrangements has significantly contributed to improvement in timely implementation and delivery of CP6 activities,” she mentioned.
Mrs Onny indicated that direct management by sub-national levels had led to increased ownership, greater oversight and accountability for resources transferred to them, as well as effective coordination of multi-sectoral responses to development challenges with improved synergies across sectors.
She noted, however, that inadequate clarity on overlaps and contradictions between UNFPA and government of Ghana processes and procedures and the high staff turnover within government institutions posed some challenges in the consolidation and sustenance of programme gains.
Rosemary Ardayfio
Rosemary.ardayfio@ graphic.com.gh