To advance the nation's sustainable development, the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has advocated for a paradigm shift away from politically motivated policies and towards evidence-based solutions.
It claimed that the constant production of policies designed to serve short-term political goals was harmful to national development since such policies failed to address significant issues with that development.
Siapha Kamara, a co-chair of the CSO Platform on SDGs who made the request, emphasized that over time, the execution of politically motivated policies had rendered the local economy more vulnerable to global catastrophe.
"We have politicians that introduce programs that are so shortsighted and focused on winning elections, and the population too is so naive. The economic difficulties Ghana is currently facing demonstrate that the dubious policies politicians have put in place have exposed us, and we are a long way from sustainable growth, he emphasized.
VNR shadow report
Mr. Kamara made the announcement yesterday in Accra during the release of the CSOs Shadow Report on the Voluntary National Review (VNR) of the SDGs.
With financing from Action for Sustainable Development, the CSOs Platform on the SDGs put together the report.
"Taking action on SDGs: Citizens' view on the SDGs delivery mechanism in Ghana" is the title of the VNR Shadow Report.
It concentrates more on the organizations in charge of carrying out the various objectives.
It explores the SDGs' degree of implementation on a national and subnational scale, their level of accountability and transparency, and their level of public awareness.
308 persons were purposefully sampled for the report's data collection, including 77 CSO activists.
Accountability
Mr. Kamara noted that all citizens needed to evaluate the policies put out by politicians in light of the issues facing national development to make wise judgments.
"Our viewpoint should include choosing policies that will prevent us from being subject to the demands of donor nations in addition to choosing our party. If we carry on in this manner, we are not acting in the best interests of "Our next generations," he said.
Moreover, he exhorted CSOs and governance advocates to collaborate to guarantee that citizens had the knowledge they needed to analyze the policies of those who desired political leadership.
He emphasized that residents and CSOs must make sure to pick "principled people who would make judgments based on hard-core evidence" if the nation is to achieve the necessary progress.
Findings
The investigation showed that there were national plans, actions, and budgets on SDGs as well as policy frameworks, but "their implementation has been glacial," according to Archibald Adams, a member of the Shadow Report Drafting Committee.
He said that the investigation also revealed a lack of financial support for the organizations in charge of carrying out the SDGs.
He continued by saying that there was no evaluation or assessment report on the SDGs' progress since there were no monitoring templates.
Speaking about methods for accountability and transparency, he claimed that while they were already in place, they had not been properly utilized.
The capacity across agencies to speak to the objectives, the indicators, and the national plan towards attaining them may also not be noticeable or acceptable, the author continued. "Public knowledge of the SDGs is quite low."
Recommendations
According to the research, sectoral strategies and SDGs must be well integrated.
It also suggests that a conscious effort must be made to include the corporate sector, academia, and other key stakeholders in the creation and implementation of sectoral strategies for the SDGs.
Moreover, he added, "there is a need for increased SDG awareness creation at both the local and national levels, as well as a deliberate effort to enhance the capacity of CSOs and the media to successfully contribute to the implementation of the SDGs.
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