Civil servants have been urged to align their work and service delivery with Ghana’s Resetting Agenda to support effective implementation across public institutions.   

Speakers at a Civil Service Week Policy Dialogue said stronger coordination, evidence-based policymaking, and partnerships with the private sector were needed to translate government priorities into measurable economic outcomes.  

Dr Ishmael Nii Amanor Dodoo, Director and Head of Innovative Finance, Partnerships, and Markets at the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, made the call during a panel discussion at the dialogue.   

He said the Civil Service had an important role to play in facilitating private-sector investment and job creation, particularly in addressing the country’s youth employment challenge.   

Dr Dodoo said human capital development needed to be aligned with the industries and investments Ghana sought to attract to avoid importing the skills required to operate them.   

"We need to work to facilitate investment because the Reset Agenda is truly private sector-oriented, and the ultimate aim is to create jobs. Today, we have over 1.7 million youth between the ages of 18 and 25 or even 35, which could be expanding to about 2 million who are in vulnerable employment," Dr Dodoo said.   

Dr Dodoo called for stronger coordination among government institutions, saying cross-cutting national challenges should be addressed through joint task teams rather than individual institutions working in isolation.   

He also urged the civil service to build stronger strategic partnerships with the private sector and other stakeholders, while challenging the perception that bureaucracy necessarily resulted in inefficiency.   

Dr Dodoo said the resetting agenda required more than changes in government policy but also reforms in how policies were designed, evidence was collected, institutions collaborated, citizens were treated, and government priorities were linked to economic outcomes.  

The Director of the Recruitment and Training and Development Directorate at the Office of the Head of Civil Service, Dr. Elizabeth Obeng-Yeboah, said the service was working to improve its relationship with citizens.   

"We will continue to treat the citizens as clients and beneficiaries of public services, rather than as a burden. We shall strengthen public confidence in civil servants and contribute to national development," she said.   

Inusah Shirazu, Director of the Policy, Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring, and Evaluation Directorate at the Ministry of Education, said there was a need to balance political commitments with evidence-based policymaking.   

He also called for the working environment within the Civil Service to be reset to promote efficiency and effectiveness.  

The Policy Dialogue formed part of the 26th Civil Service Week celebration and 2025 Awards Ceremony, held on the theme "Resetting Agenda for Sustainable Development in Ghana: Civil Service Responsibility.”