Conference on socio-economic political change opens

Accra, April 4, GNA - A three-day national conference to create a purposeful collaboration among civil society, private and the public sectors in support of concurrent processes of economic, political and social change begins on Sunday at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Greenhill near Accra.

The conference will bring together key actors in civil society, the private and the public sectors.

Participants will deliberate on alternative participatory methods to encourage co-operation and collaboration among state and non -state actors to achieve higher rates of economic growth and accelerate poverty reduction efforts.

More than 100 of the delegates had arrived on Saturday evening to attend the conference which is being jointly organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) and the Harare based African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), the United Nations Development Programme and the National Governance Programme.

The conference is on the theme: "Working purposely together to achieve better result: Civil Society, Private Sector and State/Public Sector actors."

Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, Executive Director of IDEC told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that participants were drawn from all 110 District Assemblies and government departments.

Representatives of political parties, the academia, civil society groups, and operators in the private sector would also attend.

Dr Emmanuel Akwetey said the conference will have plenary, syndicate and panel discussions, with presentations on development framework, roles and relationships between civil society, private sector and government and the Deliberative Model on participatory politics.

The topics to be discussed include "Democracy, Poverty Reduction and Growth: Ghana's Experiences and Challenges", "the Kettering Foundation and Deliberative Democracy" and the threat of HIV/AIDS on achieving higher rates of economic growth and social development It is expected that following the conference, Governance Issues Forums would be institutionalised in selected districts as mechanisms for deliberations, dialogue and consensus building on democratic governance, poverty reduction and growth issues at the district level.

The conference is also expected to empower a mass of civil society and private sectors to engage in the public policy making process and influence development at the community level.