house iconWelcome to the United Nations
DESA

December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/

Ghana
Voluntary National Review 2019
  1. National ownership The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been integrated into the national development agenda and the budget. The SDGs are being implemented through the decentralised planning system, which allows for the participation of all stakeholders, including traditional authorities, civil society organisations, private sector, academia, United Nations Agencies, and other development partners.

  2. Institutional Arrangement A three-tier structure—High-Level Ministerial Committee, multi-stakeholder Implementation Coordinating Committee and Technical Committee—provides oversight, coordination and implementation of the SDGs respectively, across the public and non-state sectors. Ghana audit service carries out SDGs-related assessments, while the national human rights institution ensures that rights are protected. With over 300 members, the CSOs platform on SDGs, serves as focal point for engagement between CSOs, private sector and government. To support the President’s role as the Co-Chair of the UN Secretary General’s Eminent Group of Advocates, an SDGs Advisory Unit has been established in the office of the President.

  3. Multi-stakeholder partnerships Ghana’s “whole-of-government” and “whole of society” approach to the implementation of Agenda 2030 has fostered partnerships and stakeholder collaboration. Partnerships between business leaders, traditional authorities and government have been institutionalised. Engagement with the youth has been enhanced through the CSOs’ sub-platform on youth.

  4. Awareness creation Ghana is implementing a communication strategy to increase public awareness. Media sensitisations and targeted engagements have been held with school children, street children, young people, market women, artisans, persons with disabilities (PWDs), commercial drivers and farmer groups. Government is partnering with the media and CSOs to scale up awareness and knowledge on the SDGs.

  5. Leave no one behind Significant disparities in income, access to basic services and decision-making exist across the country. Those at risk of being left behind include vulnerable women and children, unemployed youth, PWDs, the aged, rural populations, those in precarious employment, and people in hard to reach areas. Efforts to reach those furthest behind include expanding coverage of the social protection system; improving infrastructure, increasing productivity in the agricultural sector; promoting youth development; and pursuing vigorously, a decent work agenda.

  6. Synergies across the goals The inter-linkages between the SDGs create co-benefits that can be leveraged for effective policy and investment decision-making, and trade-offs. Government’s promotion of clean cookstoves (SDG 2), will reduce health risks (SDG3), particularly for women (SDG5), create jobs (SDG8), while positively impacting on climate (SDG13) and terrestrial ecosystems (SDG15).  The intensive use of agro-chemicals to boost agricultural productivity poses risks to water resources (SDG6), human health (SDG2), soil health and ecosystems (SDG5), which are being addressed through education on proper application of inorganic fertilisers and good irrigation practices, and the promotion of large scale compost plants.

  7. Progress of Implementation of the Goals In general, 67 of the 101 indicators Ghana is currently monitoring showed improvements since 2013, while about 20 worsened.  Between 2013 and 2017, Ghana achieved a decline in the proportion of the population living below the international (13.6% to 11.9%) and national poverty lines (24.2% to 23.4%), while child poverty was unchanged at 28.3%. Prevalence of stunting was 18% in 2017, down from 19% in 2014. Maternal deaths have reduced from 358 per 100,000 live births (2015) to 310 (2017). Gender parity in basic education has been achieved, access to secondary education improved through the implementation of the Free Senior High School Policy. Unemployment rate has increased from 5.2% in 2013 to 14.1% in 2017, however the environment for job creation has improved with the passaging of the new Companies Act. The Right to Information Bill has been passed into law to improve access to information.

  8. Data Ghana has developed a National Data for Sustainable Development Roadmap with three priority objectives: filling data gaps; encouraging data use; and strengthening the entire data ecosystem. Administrative data are being harnessed to generate timely and disaggregated information for monitoring. Ghana is also exploring new sources of data—geospatial and call details records from the telecommunication industry. A quality assurance framework is also being developed with CSOs, academia and the private sector to fully leverage data within the ecosystem. A national SDGs reporting platform has been launched to make disaggregated data available.
Information
Ghana was part of the 2019 Voluntary National Review of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
Documents
Focal point
Mr. Rudolph Sandy Kuuzegh, Esq
Director, Environment Sector
Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment,

Partnerships & Commitments
The below is a listing of all partnership initiatives and voluntary commitments where Ghana is listed as a partner or lead entity in the Partnerships for SDGs online platform
Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)

The best opportunity to slow the rate of near-term warming globally and in sensitive regions such as the Arctic is by cutting emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) – most notably methane, black carbon and some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Widespread reductions, which complement the need for aggressive global action on carbon dioxide, contribute significantly to the goal of limiting warming to less than two degrees. Reducing SLCPs can also advance national priorities such as protecting air quality and public health, promoting food security, enhancing energy efficiency, and allevi...[more]

Partners
111 Partners, 50 State and REIO, 16 IGO and 45 NGO partners (as of April 2016). Full list: http://ccacoalition.org/en/partners
Action Network
Small Island Developing States
Sustainable Development Goals
Ghana Climate Care Project

The Ghana Climate Care Project aims to educate, advocate, and offer practical adaptation activities in climate-affected communities in the Accra-Ada area. The ultimate goal of this commitment is to stem the tide of climate change by bringing stakeholders under one umbrella so as to deepen collective efforts and contribute to effective awareness creation.

Partners
• Community and Family Foundation (CAFAF) • Ghana Climate Change Coalition • Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) of Ghana • Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) of Ghana • Ghana Coalition of NGOS in Health • Disabled Christians Fellowship • ACT for Change • DOVE consults • APPLE Project • Local Councils • Ghana A...[more]
Action Network
United Nations Sustainable Development Summit
Sustainable Development Goals
Ghana will increase its funding for health to at least 15% of the national budget by 2015

Ghana will increase its funding for health to at least 15% of the national budget by 2015. Ghana will also strengthen its free maternal health care policy, ensure 95% of pregnant women are reached with comprehensive PMTCT service and ensure security for family planning commodities. Ghana will further improve child health by increasing the proportion of fully immunized children to 85% and the proportion of children under-five and pregnant women sleeping under insecticide-treated nets to 85%.

Partners
Action Network
Every Woman Every Child
Sustainable Development Goals
Global LPG Partnership

Global LPG Partnership: Accelerate transition to LPG for cooking by engaging public and private sectors in holistic policy, investment and end-user engagement.

Partners
Governments of Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda; OPEC Fund for International Development (Under Discussion); World Bank; New Ventures Fund.
Action Network
Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All)
Sustainable Development Goals
Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework, Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda: 2010-2013

The main target of this policy framework is to put the economy on the path to achieving a per capita income of least US $3000 by 2020 and attaining the Millennium Development Goals. The document emphasises the importance of sound management of natural resources and the environment for attaining these goals. Source: The document, therefore, aims to ensure "sustainability in the use of natural resources". Given the recent discovery of oil, the framework stipulates that A key policy objective is to ensure that the practices of the oil and gas industry are consistent with international standards ...[more]

Partners
Action Network
Green economy policies, practices and initiatives
Sustainable Development Goals
National Action Plan for Sustainable Energy for All

Ghana is developing a national action plan to increase its renewable energy capacity and extend reliable energy access to all of its citizens.

Partners
Ghana
Action Network
Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All)
Sustainable Development Goals
United Nations