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LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting Citizen’s Participation in the Constitutional Reform Process in Ghana

The grantee failed to anticipate that, once the grassroots-level had submitted its recommendations, the consulted representatives from women, youth and disability groups, would expect get feedback on how their inputs were being used in the constitutional reform process in Ghana.
Project Partner
Institute of Economic Affairs
Project Description
The project facilitated the participation of marginalized and vulnerable groups of citizens in the constitutional reform process in Ghana. This process was initiated by the Ghanaian government when it established a Constitution Review Commission (CRC). The project aimed to consult the country’s marginalized populations on key constitutional issues and considered their recommendations in conjunction with the results of field surveys and thematic research papers. The project organized workshops with participants. On average 21 new relevant recommendations were made by each participant. This improved the quality of submissions - compared to the officially conducted CRC consultations – and prompted various Members of Parliament (MPs) to declare their support. Over 80% of the Constitution Review Commissions’ recommendations were informed by the project’s input, which demonstrates the impact the project had.
Evaluation Date
January 2013
Theme
Country