The Right to Information remains an essential tool for journalists and citizens to ensuring accountability in governance, however, for various reasons it is not given the due recognition and impetus.

In Ghana the bill is over 17 years old, going in and out of parliament despite a supposed commitment by successive governments. In Nigeria, it took 11 years to have it passed into law, but enforcement is a major challenge, especially because the media seem highly polarized and the work of journalists is somewhat undermined by the high commercialization of news and direct influences of owners.

Despite the shortcoming; ie. The non-existence of a Right to Information law, the media in Ghana is playing an active role in ensuring good governance; independently, and through collaboration with credible CSOs, although more can still be done.

Among the recent achievements in this regard are the suspension of the mandatory tow levy, suspension of the DVLA first aid kit charges, decisive action against illegal small-scale mining and closure of an illegally operating Chinese-owned tomato factory.

Media Houses such as Citi FM continue to champion this effort, going beyond the archaic perceived role of the media only being disseminators of information to being advocates and campaigners for justice, good governance, and accountability.

Again, not just on air or online, but on the ground; this is the way forward – progressive 21st-century media.

Within CSOs can be found expertise, network, credibility, and independence while media organizations are a wealth of credibility, fearlessness, wide coverage, creativity in story-telling and influence, which can be merged galvanized to for good governance and accountability especially in Africa.

What must be done:

CSOs must endeavour to involve journalists in the planning and execution of programs and campaigns to ensure that the accurate, newsy and relevant perspectives are highlighted.

CSOs must deliberately build partnerships with media organizations to promote their collective interests

Regular CSO-Media interactions must be held to plan and execute development campaigns.

Media practitioners must build their capacities to understand the context and content of the work of CSOs.

About the Roundtable meeting

The event was organized by the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) Abuja-Nigeria with the aim of discussing ways of forging a partnership between CSOs and the media to ensure accountability and good governance.

Representing CSOs in Ghana at the event Youth Empowerment Synergy (YES-Ghana); a youth-focused independent organization working towards the promotion of a sustainable and productive future for young people in Ghana.

The roundtable meeting was funded by the Ford Foundation.

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By: Jonas Nyabor (Journalist with Accra-based Citi FM)

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Under the agreement, Ford Foundation provided $150,000 to YES-Ghana towards implementation of an 18-month pilot project dubbed ‘Youth Leadership for Social Change’.

Even though Ghana is enjoying an enviable reputation of being one of Africa’s most democratic, stable and peaceful countries, the country still faces the challenge of enhancing and promoting social change through active youth involvement.

Young people remain on the periphery of socio-economic processes and governance structures. This is demonstrated by rising youth unemployment, with many young people failing to gain a firm foothold in the labour market.

Against this background, the Youth Leadership for Social Change project is designed with the goal of expanding opportunities for youth leadership and active citizenship towards a more inclusive Ghanaian society.

In particular, the project will provide over 60 young people with improved knowledge and skills needed for effective social change leadership.

The project will also enhance opportunities for young leaders to apply leadership skills through the development and implementation of youth-led social change initiatives.

Following a rigorous set of criteria, the University for Development Studies in Tamale and the University of Cape Coast have been selected as the participating universities for this pilot phase.

YES-Ghana is collaborating with the Student Representative Councils, local chapters of National Union of Ghana Students, and the Dean of Student Affairs in the respective campuses in the implementation of the project.

Participants at these two campuses will attend a Youth Academy for Social Change which will unlock their leadership potential. Through a blend of mentoring and community development support, participants will be tasked to identify various needs in their communities and to design social change projects for addressing them.

In signing the agreement, the Executive Director of YES-Ghana, Emmanuel Edudzie, said “financial and technical assistance will be provided for the implementation of the youth social change projects”. He added that “youth forums in the participating universities will bring together members of the university community, including participants of the Youth Leadership for Social Change project, students, faculty and other activists to learn and share their social change experiences by showcasing their projects, highlighting successes and challenges, and also receiving feedback”.

As part of an extensive project evaluation and learning agenda, YES-Ghana has contracted Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) to set up and implement a robust learning system to generate data on key learning questions and common indicators.

This will provide an opportunity for understanding ‘what works’ in youth leadership development.

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Source: YES Ghana

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