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Adopt research findings from CSOs - MMDAs advised

MMDAs have also advised to partner universities and CSOs to conduct joint research works to enable them accept and make use of such research findings.

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They have also advised to partner universities and CSOs to conduct joint research works to enable them accept and make use of such research findings.

The Associate Executive Director of Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis (CEIA), Mr Samuel Obiri, said this during a policy dialogue workshop on “Decentralizing development in Ghana- the use of research evidence in development /project planning”, held in Cape Coast.

The workshop organized by Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS) was attended by regional economic planning officers, district planning officers, coordinating directors and heads of departments.

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The event was to among others discuss relevant policy issues that would help improve upon policy making at the district level.

Mr Obiri said CSOs by the nature of their work generate a lot of evidence-based research that could aid in addressing some of the developmental challenges facing the nation.

He expressed regret that many CSOs' research findings were received by MMDAs with mixed feelings with some rejecting such reports outright without studying them to extract relevant information.

He said some attributed this attitude to the fact that MMDAs did not appreciate the sources and methodologies used and urged CSOs to standardize their methodologies so as to reduce the flaws that can affect the credibility of their research reports.

Mr Obiri also stressed the need for CSOs to partner the media and other research institutions such as the universities and the research units of the MMDAs to undertake specific joint research works.

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Mrs Pricilla Arhin-Kuranchie, Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive, in a speech read on her behalf, said research findings undoubtedly played a critical role in guiding and ensuring good public policy making and project planning at every sphere of governance.

She said some research take a long time to complete and this was not expedient for political decision-making.

“This, therefore, usually accounts for the failure of policies or projects, because due diligence has not been taken into consideration,” she said.

Mrs Arhin –Kuranchie commended GINKS for organizing a dialogue that involved a balanced range of stakeholders in an inclusive and participatory environment which also seeks to improve policy makers processes for engaging with research evidence.

Mr Ibrahim Inusah, Executive Secretary of GINKs, explained that GINKS is a network of individual and organizations sharing information and knowledge that facilitates capacity building for ICT use and evidence informed policy -making in Ghana.

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He said Evidence Informed policy- making was an approach to development, where policy makers were equipped with the necessary resources that position them to assimilate evidence into policies.

Mr Inusah said similar workshops have been held in the Volta, Eastern and Ashanti Regions and that it formed part of programmes being implemented by an international consortium called “VakaYiko” operating in three African countries.

Source: GNA

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