Strengthening Covid-19 accountability mechanisms

About the project

The Government of Ghana enacted emergency health legislation in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020 and subsequently set up the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme which included subsidies for utility bills, provision of loans to small scale enterprises, and setting up a Covid-19 fund through public donations. 

The existing Livelihoods Empowerment Against Poverty programme was upgraded to provide additional one-off cash transfers to beneficiaries, and a US$100 million package to the health sector was provided to expand capacity and enable awareness campaigns.

Experiences of other countries confirm that the mobilisation of resources for the Covid-19 pandemic brings with it an increased risk of public sector corruption. Risks include compromised emergency procurement processes, price gouging of medical supplies, and petty corruption at the service delivery level. 

This project will improve community monitoring of Covid-19 relief efforts as they unfold by increasing capacity and confidence of youth and women’s movements to advocate for greater transparency and accountability in the use of current and future funding for health emergencies and pandemics.

This will be achieved by:

• collating data from target government institutions, including the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service and Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning to support a systematic review of the Government’s Covid-19 response funding measures
• launching and publishing a research report on Covid-19 resource utilisation which will provide evidence, inform advocacy and social accountability campaigns, and clarify intervention parameters against which advocacy outcomes are to be measured
• training 1,000 leaders of national and sub-national youth and women-led movements, such as Youth Advocates Ghana, Teen-Talk Ghana, Rise- Ghana, Federation of Muslim Women Associations and Christian Mothers Association, as well as the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition and Ghana Integrity Initiative, on using research evidence for transparency and accountability, and on tracking Covid-19 funding and response mechanisms; these groups will also be key informants in the research
• conducting awareness-raising campaigns using mainstream and digital media, and sensitising citizens groups including youth, women and persons with disabilities, on the findings of the report
• organising and convening anti-corruption social accountability campaigns specifically involving Youth Advocates Ghana, Teen-Talk Ghana, Rise- Ghana and the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations
• organising citizen-led advocacy campaigns for greater transparency principally through multiple media platforms (mainstream and digital) with direct engagement with the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service and Parliamentary Health Committee
• encouraging citizens to use the corruption reporting platform of Ghana Integrity Initiative (the local chapter of Transparency International) to report corrupt practices relating to Covid-19 resources, such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) distribution