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CSOs cry for govt, private sector support

• Mr Quartey (seated third left) with some representatives of CSOs

Civil Society Organisa­tions (CSOs) in Ghana are in dire need of support from the government and private sector to run their activities.

This was disclosed at the launch of the 2022 CSO Sustainability Index Report by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) in Ac­cra, on the theme, ‘Ghana’s Economic Crisis: Threats and Opportunities for CSO Sus­tainability.’

The report captured seven areas including, Legal En­vironment, Organisational Capacity, Financial Viability, Advocacy, Service Provision, Sectoral Infrastructure and Public Image.

Presenting the report, a Development Consultant, Mr Douglas Quartey said most CSOs received support and funding from foreign organi­sations which was not sus­tainable because they were overburdened by the huge number of registered CSOs in the country.

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“Foreign donors remained the main source of funding for most CSOs. The major donors in 2022 included bilat­eral and multilateral bodies such as USAID, UK Aid Direct, European Union, German Agency for International Cooperation and Embassy of Netherlands,” he stated.

He said the ongoing changes in the funding land­scape including the shift of donors’ focus to areas lacking a strong civil society compo­nent, such as trade, contin­ued to reduce the pool of funding available to CSOs.

He added that, although a few CSOs had diversified funding, there were limited opportunities for most organ­isations to develop multiple funding sources.

To address the challenge, the Senior Research Fellow at IDEG, Mr Kwesi Jonah said the current crisis offered an opportunity for CSOs to re­flect on several creative ways of surviving which include managing limited funds avail­able to stay in business.

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“CSOs must also find ways of managing risks and put in efforts to limit spending while falling back on their board for connections and collaborations to help man­age the crisis,” he stated.

The government and the private sector, he said must also come on board to sup­port the activities of CSOs in Ghana.

“We need to form a stron­ger partnership that would lead to sustainability of the sector. It is a responsibility to educate ourselves on the roles of the CSOs towards na­tional development and push towards proper support from the government and private sector,” he stated.

He said, there was the need to engage in new con­versations with donors not to withdraw their support while NGOs must avoid competi­tions and engage in strategic partnerships.

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 By Michael D. Abayateyea

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Craze for x’mas shopping:  Crowded markets, low patronage

• Traders display their items

 Vendors of food and other wares associated with the Christmas cele­bration have expressed surprise at the low patronage despite the increased number of visitors to some of the ma­jor markets across the capital.

Four days to the celebration(Christ­mas), the markets are filled with vari­ous products ranging from food, cloth­ing, livestock and many other stuff, but according to the vendors, patrons are doing more ‘window’ shopping.

The Spectator on visits to some of the markets in the capital, notably the Odawna, Makola, Accra Central Business District, New Town and others made similar observations as shoppers crowd them but did little in terms of purchases.

The paper also observed that ma­jority of vendors, originally selling other wares have switched to product related to the festive season.

 What it means is that there are a lot more clothes, food and vege­tables, livestock and poultry, toys, firecrackers, drinks of different types and many others on display.

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The markets have also stretched to the pedestrian pavement, leaving very nar­row spaces for commuters to move about freely.

That, in addition to a few of the female vendors dressed in coloured attires to reflect the occasion, has heightened the euphoria, leaving the low sales as the only headache for the vendors.

Speaking with this paper, they sounded very optimistic, believing that sales would improve in the last few days to the yule­tide.

According to them, there was the oppor­tunity to sell beyond Christmas as the New Year celebration offers similar opportunity to trade the same wares.

They urged patrons to throng the mar­kets to shop since prices were quite mod­erate and products affordable for all.

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 Retirement service for Elder John Ackom-Asante,3 others

 Retired Deputy Editor of The Spec­tator, Elder John Ackom-Asante, was last Sunday honoured by the Church of Pentecost Windy Hills District in Kasoa in the Central Region, with a retirement thanksgiv­ing service, after serving for 26 year as an Elder of the church.

He was honoured with a citation and certif­icate of service along with three other elders who served in the capacity for various years.

Elder Ackom-Asante was baptised at the Darkuman Central Assembly in 1979 and or­dained as an Elder in 1997.

The citation read “Your selfless service, zeal, willingness to relate wholeheartedly and your desire to effect change has gone a long way to shape the lives of many people in the church and the nation over the 26 years of your dedication to the service of the Lord.”

Elder Ackom- Asante held many positions at the Darkuman Central Assembly, Obuasi in the Ashanti Region and Tema, serving in various capacities as youth and evange­lism ministry lead­er and marriage counsellor.

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He was the founding member of the Darkuman Christian Fellowship, a member of the Greater Accra Chris­tian Fellowship; member of Bible Society of Ghana; founding member Obuasi Chapter Full Gospel Busi­nessmen Fellowship Interna­tional and founding member of New Times Corporation Christian Fellowship and Chaplain, Methodist Universi­ty Tema Campus 2009- 2010.

As a professional journal­ist, Elder Ackom-Asante com­bined effectively and effi­ciently his duty as a member and elder of the church and the demands of his profes­sion, with admiration from the church, kith and kin, till his retirement on December

 From Alhaji Salifu Abdul-Rahaman, Kasoa

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