Ghanaians are the becoming healthier, better educated, more politically enfranchised and freer to express their views than any other African nation, a new report released by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has found.
[contextly_sidebar id=”LTUR0QipDaef6ynbh7822v59DueM1E61″]According to the report, three out of every four Ghanaians surveyed said they were pleased with the level of the country’s democratic growth, brought about by the “one of the most successful transitions to multi-party democracy in sub-Saharan Africa.”
It suggested that Ghanaians perceive instances of good or bad service delivery and react accordingly in terms of their votes.
The report, titled “Ghana, the rising star,” attributed the developments in the country to the “robust and responsive democracy, including a sharp increase in child immunization rates, huge advances in pre-primary education and Ghana’s status as one of only a handful of non-OECD nations to provide free and universal health coverage.”
However, the ODI report also indicated a seeming neglect of rural areas, highlighting a slower rate of growth in those parts of the country.
It noted that “child mortality is four times higher in the north of the country than in the wealthier western region and women in rural areas report an average of 7 years of schooling, while women in urban areas report 10 years.
Similarly, uptake of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) membership ranges from 13% in the Central region to 70% in the Upper West region in 2008.”
A panel discussion to mark the launch of the report and to assess the progress Ghana has made in both political voice and democratization, as well as in its health and education services will take place today at the La Palm Royal beach Hotel at 3:30 pm and will be broadcast live on Citi 97.3 FM.
On the panel are Deputy Education Minister in charge of Tertiary education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Dr. Richard Winfred Anane, a former Health Minister, and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Vitus Azeem, Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative (Transparency International), Franklin Cudjoe, Executive Director Imani Ghana and Alina Rocha Menocal, Senior Fellow at the Developmental Leadership Program.
The event will be moderated by the Director of News and Programming at Citi FM and host of the Citi Breakfast Show, Bernard Koku Avle.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana