Assuming office 15 months ago, UNFPA Ghana Representative Babatunde Ahonsi had to refresh the programme to enhance the country office (CO) image among key stakeholders, and make UNFPA more visible in all stages of programme implementation within the context of UN’s Delivering as One in Ghana.
One of several initiatives he introduced has strategically repositioned UNFPA in terms of branding and prominence. This was realised during the maiden Partners’ Learning Forum (PALEF) organised by the CO and its partners on November 2nd 2015 under the theme “Utilizing Shared Knowledge and Practices for Advancing the ICPD Agenda in Ghana”.
The platform seeks to foster shared learning and collaboration between UNFPA implementing partners (IPs) and relevant stakeholders. Four years into the implementation of the 6th Country Programme, IPs have amassed a wealth of knowledge, achievements and lessons from efforts at expanding access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Mr. Ahonsi articulated his vision of systematically sharing these experiences at the 2015 CO staff retreat where a five-member PALEF committee was constituted to translate the vision into reality.
“Once you agree with me, it is a shared vision and not just a vision for BAA” the Representative said at one of the Monday programme meetings where the roadmap for implementing the PALEF was shared and endorsed by the entire staff.
A combination of methodologies was used in implementing the roadmap. Guidelines for the preparation of posters on achievements and good practices were developed and shared with 21 implementing partners and two NGO grantees. PALEF was a key agenda item at weekly CO Programme and Operations team meetings to ensure regular monitoring of progress. And for quality assurance, the posters were reviewed at three levels; the programme staff supporting the IP with the poster development, documentation sub-committee level and the CO Management level.
The actual forum attracted hundreds of participants including IPs, development partners, UN, donors, academics and journalists. Its highpoint was the poster exhibition during which IPs showcased their innovations and good practices. These included achievements in enhancing skilled delivery, communal facilitation of referrals of obstetric emergencies, and ICT-driven sexuality education. A plenary session that followed the exhibition allowed for experts’ feedback and enabled participants to share their impressions.
“This is an initiative that should be extended to a wider range of stakeholders as it is an eye opener for us. It will improve our programming at the community, district and regional levels because we have seen many different approaches that have been used for same programme from different locations” says Nana Ama Sam of PPAG.
The PALEF turned out as a tremendous success. It was engaging and stimulated innovation and critical thinking to facilitate advocacy and investment in strategic programmes for addressing critical bottlenecks that hinder maternal and adolescent health improvement in Ghana. The Ghana CO has set a pace for facilitating a fertile ground for cross-fertilization of ideas in advancing the ICPD agenda.
