CDD-Ghana initiates Network of West African Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations

The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has initiated steps to establish a network of Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations (PMOs) in West Africa to work towards enhancing parliamentary openness, transparency and accountability within the sub-region.

The West Africa PMOs’ network will, among other things, advocate for the adoption of the ‘Declaration on Parliamentary Openness’ by their respective national legislatures and campaign for inclusive social policies and programs that will positively enhance the lives of marginalized groups in their respective countries. Further, the network will advocate for strong and open Parliaments that embody citizens’ voices, especially those of marginalized groups, by enhancing their capacity to demand inclusive policies, responsiveness and accountability.

In line with this initiative, CDD-Ghana is hosting a four-day conference for PMOs operating across West Africa from June 15 to 18, 2021 in Accra. The conference, which forms part of activities under the Center’s project titled “Strengthening Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations (PMOs) in West Africa and Ghana to Enhance Parliamentary Openness, Inclusive Policies, Transparency and Responsiveness,” seeks to strengthen West Africa and Ghana-based PMOs.

Regina Oforiwaa Amanfo Tetteh, Senior Programs Officer at CDD-Ghana, is optimistic that the conference will contribute to sharpening the skills of participating organizations to enable them advocate on issues, policies and programs that impact on the lives of marginalized groups.

“The ultimate aim is to set up a West African network of PMOs and to ensure the effectiveness of this network, its members must be equipped to enable them contribute meaningfully to help achieve the objectives for which it was established,” she said.

At the end of the project, participating organizations are expected to be able to find innovative ways of documenting, assessing and sharing research findings on parliamentary performance in their respective countries. They will also be equipped to effectively and efficiently engage with parliaments in the region and the ECOWAS Parliament on the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness.

The conference is being organized in collaboration with Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica) and the Ghana Network of Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations (GPMOs), with funding from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) under the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS).