REPORT

ON
THE QUARTERLY REVIEW MEETING


27
th
March, 2014





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Quarter Review Meeting 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION
After completion of Quarter three of SPEFA implementation in February, 2014, the National
Coordinating Unit of SPEFA organized the quarterly review meeting on the 27
th
of March, 2014 at
the East Gate Hotel. The meeting brought together twenty three (23) participants comprising
members of the NCU, representatives of the Social Accountability Unit of the MLGRD as well as
representatives of 9 partner CSOs. The event begun 20 minutes after the scheduled time of 9am.
This was to enable participants from NORDESO who had been held up by a delay in flight
arrangements to be present from the start.
Subsequently, the welcome address was given by Mrs Sarah Agbey who indicated that the purpose
of the gathering was to examine progress so far and to facilitate information sharing between
participants. Following from that was an opening prayer by Mr Immanuel Tettey. CSOs present at
the meeting included NORDESO, BSF, FERMGEO, SCMPP, CEDEP, Peoples Dialogue, SENS, SYPPA
and SSF. CLUSA Ghana was not represented at the event.

2.0 SPEFA NATIONAL COORDINATING UNIT (NCU) UPDATE






Mrs Sarah Agbey, the SPEFA project manager made a presentation on the status of SPEFA
implementation. The presentation highlighted the projects goals and objectives as well as
its implementation framework. Participants were also reminded of the expected outputs of
the project.
Subsequently, the detailed implementation status of all planned activities was presented to
participants. At this stage, the planned activities were listed alongside the expected
outcomes from the implementation of these activities as well as the timelines agreed for the
implementation of the activities. The implementation status of each of the activities was

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also reported on. According to the presentation, over 90% of all planned activities have
been implemented. One activity that was yet to be implemented was the half yearly
coordination meetings between NCU and partner CSOs and the documentation and
publication of annual reports which is expected to be ready by May 2014. To date, SPEFA
forums had recorded a total of more than 2089 and town hall meetings had recorded a total
participation of 1731.
The presentation also highlighted what has worked well so far and also what needs to be
improved as far as the implementation of the project is concerned. With reference to what
has worked well the presentation mentioned the following key issues:
In its first half-year, the SPEFA project has effectively implemented almost all (over 90%) of
scheduled activities;
Project has been launched in 10 MMAs and SPEFA Groups have
Seventeen (17) SPEFA Forums have been held to date.
Ten (10) Town Hall Meetings have been organised to date.
To date 2089 citizens have participants in SPEFA Forum
To date 1731 citizens have participants in Town Hall in 10 MMAs.
1483 males and 606 females have participated in SPEFA Forum
1282 males and 499 females have participated in Town Hall Meetings.
There is an increasing awareness of the role of civil society regarding development decision
making and management.
There is an emerging improvement in the understanding of citizen groups about their roles
and functions in ensuring social accountability;
CSOs and other stakeholders capacity to engage MMAs on social accountability processes
are improving.
A detailed manual and handbook for SPEFA has been developed and is being used.

Mrs Agbey also indicated that the following underlisted issues needed to be improved:
MMAs, CSOs and Citizen Groups need to improve their collaborative efforts at organising
and managing SPEFA Forums and Town Hall meetings;
Citizens groups and CSOs need to improve their methods and general approach to
engaging/communicating with MMAs;
Stakeholders (MMAs, Traditional leaders, trade association and citizen groups) need to have
a better understanding about why they participate in social accountability processes;

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NCU/SAU monitoring of Partner-CSOs forums and Town Hall meetings need to be
improved;
Improve women participation?

At the meeting issues of priority to SPEFAs National Coordinating Unit for 2014 were also
listed and explained to participants. Among the priorities were the plans to continue
monitoring of SPEFA activities in the field. The holding of review meetings between the
NCU, SAU and CSOs is also expected to continue unabated. This, as was explained, is
expected to bring emerging issues to light for action to be taken and to help access progress.
The NCU also indicated that it intended to pursue knowledge development, effective
documentation and dissemination. The planned addition of 24 MMAs and planned
evaluation of the impact of SPEFA in Ghana was also mentioned.
In concluding the presentation, pictures on SPEFA implementation so far were shown to
participants. Among the pictures were shots of SPEFA forums, town hall meetings and
newspaper editorials on SPEFA activities.

3.0 TRAINING ON REPORT WRITING
Recognising lapses and limitations on the part of some CSOs in effective report writing, the
NCU decided to undertake training in this area during the review meeting. The training was
facilitated by Mr. Immanuel Tettey, SPEFA Project Assistant with the NCU.
The training introduced participants to
report writing, indicating its purposes for
communicating ideas and information,
influencing decision making, prompting
action and persuading readers or intended
recipient(s). The training also gave
participants insight into various forms of
reports such as routine reports, occasional
reports, specially commissioned reports and
progress reports.

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The various classifications of reports, the structure, language and presentation of reports
were also discussed. Participants were taught that a good report must basically
communicate well, be persuasive/ convincing, be event/ activity centred, output/ outcome
oriented and last of all outline the way forward and make some recommendations on the
subject matter. In concluding, the training was focused specifically on the report writing
within the SPEFA context where participants were given a step-by-step guideline on how to
present their reports.

4.0 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS AND PEER EXPERIENCE SHARING
After lunch, participants were divided into four groups for focus group discussions. Their
task was to list what in their opinion worked well in the third quarter as well as what needs
to be improved. They were also asked to make recommendation on what they thought
would make SPEFA implementation even more effective in the ensuing quarters.

After about thirty minutes of deliberations participants chose representatives to talk briefly
about issues raised by their members. A summary of the outputs of the discussions by the
groups are presented in table 1 below.

Table 1: Summary of outputs from FGDs on Quarter 3 Implementation
What worked well What Needs Improvement Recommendations
Good collaboration between
CSOs & MMDSs
Stakeholder participation
Interest is fairly good
Effective collaboration with
media
Collaboration with the
Assemblies
Stakeholder participation
attendance and engagement
in issues
Training manual for
facilitators were very useful
as it serves as a guide for the
training
Inadequate budget inflation
rate
Number of participants
Facilitation skills (needs
improvement)
Attendance
Time of reporting & event
ground
Low participation of women
Inadequate publicity from
MMDAs and dates of events
As part of improving
attendance, identifying less
known/marginalised groups
like women, people living with
The MLGRD should engage more
with the non-cooperative MMAs
CSOs should share reports with
MMAs
Review meetings should not only be
held in Accra
Improved participation of the
marginalised groups in project
activities (women, people with
disabilities etc)
Improvement in collaboration
between CSOs and MMAs
Encourage gender equality on event
participation
More publicity through media

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What worked well What Needs Improvement Recommendations
Effective collaboration
between CSOs and MMAs
Effective media participation
Enthusiasm among SPEFA
Group members
Progressive increase in
womens participation in
Project activities
Social Accountability is being
accepted by MMAs
Active participation of SPEFA
Groups
Good relationship with
MMAs
Taking active interest with
specific SPEFA group
members
NCU very supportive with
Resource documents

disability and physically
challenged
Sensitization of citizens on the
ownership of the SPEFA
project.
Communication and facilitation
skills on the part of CSOs
Working towards ownership
Ensuring that the SPEFA groups
become knowledgeable on
local government issues

reportage
Continue engaging the
disadvantaged eg. Poor, disabled
and vulnerable groups
Formation of SPEFA co-ordination
committee
Ensuring that the NDPC Act also
works at the MMA level
Move to sub-metros
Working with NCCE & Youth Council
for data base on groups


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The NCU of SPEFA also made arrangement for peer experiences sharing which created a platform
for some CSOs that are doing very well in SPEFA implementation at their local level to share their
experiences with participants. On this occasion, Mr. Salifu Abdul-Mujeeb of Peoples Dialogue and
Mr. Peterson Bediako of CEDEP spoke on behalf of their respective CSOs.

In his submission, Mr. Abdul-Mujeeb stated that Peoples Dialogue benefits from their informal
interactions with personnel at the existing structures at the local level. He also mentioned that their
experience with community mobilization over the years has also helped in engaging relevant
stakeholders in their activities. His colleague Mr. John Annan also added that they learn a lot from
peer experience sharing with their international partners. Peoples Dialogue, he added, have
become masters of data for some ministries through researches they conduct on issues relevant
to their operations. In addition to these, Peoples Dialogue followed issues regarding the MMAs they
operated in on the media and had interactions (mainly informal) with them concerning these issues
so as to build a good rapport.

Mr. Peterson Bediako on behalf of CEDEP mentioned that their organization is largely successful
because they have a long-standing relationship with the MMAs they work with. A good
understanding and respect for the processes at MMA level was also mentioned as key to their
success in dealing with the local authorities. He also mentioned their long-standing relationship
with groupings such as market women gone a long way to make them effective in SPEFA
implementation. Mrs. Aba Oppong, also of CEDEP underlined the importance of honesty and
transparency in dealing with stakeholders as very key for success.

5.0 EMERGING ISSUES
At various point in the meetings issues regarding participation at SPEFA events were raised. Mrs
Fati Soale of the SAU of the MLGRD suggested the inclusion of women participation to the list of
things that needs to be improved. She also asked that the NCU and CSOs get a way of checking to
ensure that the town hall meetings are the same people who make up the numbers at the SPEFA
forums. She raised the issue of participation at MMAs with huge populations to which Mr Immanuel
Tettey of the NCU referred to on-going discussions between the NCU and SAU to engage such
populace at the sub-metro level.

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Back-and-forth discussion took place on the need to pay attention to participation by other
marginalized groupings within the society such as People Living With Disabilities (PLWD).

The difficulty in dealing with the tradition of paying people to attend town hall meetings and other
meetings to deliberate on developmental issues at the local level was again highlighted at the
meeting.

The meeting ended with Mrs. Agbey thanking everyone for being there and urging them to position
themselves very well by building on their knowledge and competence. She also entreated them to
put people first in their dealings after which she sought the views of participants on the days
activities. The general consensus was that it had been insightful and had offered a very effective
platform for improving their capacity.