Minister for Gender and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to empowering local actors to take ownership of development interventions across Ghana. Speaking at the launch of the Civil Society Strengthening Programme (CSSP) Strategy in Accra on Monday, she said decentralising decision-making is crucial to ensuring interventions achieve real impact.

“This reaffirms that our partnership is so significant going forward, especially when you want to shift power from the central to the local level so that local actors can own the impact of every intervention,” Dr Lartey said.

Eunice Agbenyadzi, Head of Programmes at STAR-Ghana Foundation, highlighted the broader rationale behind the initiative.

She explained that shifting power and decision-making from funders and institutions in the Global North to local civil society and communities allows development priorities to reflect the lived realities of those directly affected.

“Communities live the challenges and are best placed to determine how development agendas should be implemented,” she said.

The eight-year Shifting the Power (StP) Programme is led by STAR-Ghana Foundation in collaboration with the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), Zambia Governance Foundation, and TILITONSE Foundation.

It is supported by Comic Relief and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The initiative seeks to strengthen civil society’s role in governance, enhance community-driven interventions, and promote accountability by ensuring local stakeholders are central to planning and executing projects.

Officials say that by equipping local actors to design, monitor, and evaluate development programmes, the StP Programme aims to create more sustainable outcomes and amplify the voices of communities in shaping their own development pathways.