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Local Governance Exchange North Rhine-Westphalia – Ghana

Kick-off workshop in Düsseldorf launches new project

Engagement Global's Service Agency Communities in One World and the State Chancellery of Germany's federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) jointly invited participants to the kick-off workshop for the project 'Local Governance Exchange North Rhine-Westphalia – Ghana'. Together with delegates from municipalities and civil society in NRW the Service Agency and the State Chancellery discussed opportunities and prospects presented by the pilot project.

NRW State Secretary Dr Mark Speich welcoming the participants.
NRW State Secretary Dr Mark Speich welcoming the participants. Photo: Martin Magunia

Düsseldorf, 4 February 2020. Dr Mark Speich, NRW State Secretary for Federal, European and International Affairs, opened the conference and presented the new component for the partnership between NRW and Ghana: 'Many of the decisions that will determine whether or not we manage to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda will be taken at the local level. For municipalities too, sustainable action is becoming increasingly important.' This is why it makes sense to add local governance exchange to the cooperation between Ghana and NRW that has existed at national/federal state and civil society level since 2007. 'We are convinced that the exchange between municipalities in Ghana and NRW will be a key factor in taking our partnership in new directions', said State Secretary Speich.

Stefan Wilhelmy, Division Manager of the Service Agency Communities in One World, also welcomed the mandate from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He drew attention to the potential created by a multi-level partnership of this kind to which the federal state, the municipalities and civil society can all make a huge contribution. Dr Wilhelmy also said he was particularly pleased about the new close cooperation with the State Chancellery, adding that the dynamic development of municipal development cooperation since 2010, and the increasingly broad range of support provided by the Service Agency, were also largely thanks to the State Chancellery.

After that the participants briefly introduced themselves and described their professional and personal links with Ghana. Alongside the State Chancellery and the Service Agency, participants included delegates from civil society, the Association of German Cities and eight municipalities in NRW.

The example of Bonn – Cape Coast

Input from the municipalities was provided by Verena Schwarte from the Federal City of Bonn, and by Annette Turmann of the Bonn – Cape Coast Association, in their presentation on municipal cooperation between the two cities. In their talk the two speakers discussed among other things the foundations of international cooperation in Bonn, the actors involved, the development of the partnership and its activities.

One noteworthy feature is the close cooperation with citizens, not least with the partnership association, as well as with various other civil society organisations and educational institutions. Since the association was established in 2008 numerous projects have been implemented. By way of example the speakers presented several activities arising from the climate action programme – which the partnership developed when taking part in the Service Agency's 'Municipal Climate Partnerships' project. The key themes of biodiversity, solid waste management and environmental education were addressed for instance by restoring Fosu Lagoon in Cape Coast, in conjunction with accompanying measures such as a play.

The speakers explained that involving different municipal departments and actors strategically helps institutionalise the activities of a partnership, but added that building solid partnership structures requires both time and continuity of personnel. A further conducive element, they explained, was institutionalising the partnership through council resolutions. They also recommended raising third-party funds in order to implement cooperation projects. Their partnership, they explained, has also gained further vitality as a result of working together on specific projects.

Participants at the kick-off workshop in Düsseldorf.
Participants at the kick-off workshop in Düsseldorf. Photo: Martin Magunia

Following that, Eva Heuschen presented the Service Agency in its capacity as a competence centre for municipal development cooperation, and specified the key objectives, activities and support offered by the project 'Local Governance Exchange North Rhine-Westphalia – Ghana'. By taking part in the programme and developing projects together as partners, municipalities, local government associations and local governance training institutions in both countries will be able to help implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the two sides learn from each other through the exchange, this will strengthen sustainable local governance. The aim is therefore to (re)activate, strengthen and professionalise municipal partnerships in the context of the partnership.

The supported provided will be correspondingly broad: As well as fact-finding missions to initiate new partnerships, expert missions and training stays are planned in both directions in order to strengthen cooperation within the partnerships. Country-specific intercultural training courses will also be provided for people involved in the project. Finally, the project will include professional advisory services to support the work of the partnerships and supply information on accessing further sources of funding for project implementation.

The fact that several of the municipalities attending the kick-off workshop already maintain a partnership with a Ghanaian municipality, while others showed an interest in starting one, presents an opportunity for the project. Regular network meetings will be held to support the sharing of lessons learned and knowledge both between the participating actors in their respective country/federal state contexts, and between the partnerships. This will make it easier for interested municipalities and institutions to begin working together in partnership.

Strong civil society links will be a cornerstone

To men are talking to each other, in the background two women.
During the workshop, participants were keen to discuss the potential and prospects created by the new project. Photo: Martin Magunia

MiGlobe-consultant Christina Adomako from the Forum for Social Innovation gave a brief introduction to Ghana as a partner country, and explained the history and development of the partnership between Ghana and NRW. She also highlighted the broad diversity of actors involved and projects implemented. The Ghana promoter Nicolai Roerkohl then gave a report on the Ghana Forum NRW Association. This forum supports organisations, institutions and individuals from civil society, the Churches and the Ghanaian community that wish to maintain, intensify, develop or start from scratch meetings, dialogue and joint work with partners in and from Ghana. The Ghana Forum is a civil society organisation that will be supporting the Ghana-NRW partnership and generating ideas and suggestions on how to further develop it.

In the concluding joint discussion, participants had an opportunity to collect their impressions on the design of the project along with any questions that remained. These were then addressed in plenary and answered for all participants.

Looking ahead and next steps

This year an expert fact-finding mission is planned. Here, interested municipalities from Ghana and NRW will attend workshops where they will be able to embark on professional dialogue and meet up for the first time with peers in order to initiate new partnerships. Due to the current COVID-19 situation it is not yet clear at present when this can take place.

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