CAO Holds Video Conference with Ghanaian Civil Society Organizations

December 21, 2017 - CAO held a video conference with civil society organizations (CSOs) in Ghana on December 14, 2017 as part of its outreach efforts in the Africa region. The purpose of the event was twofold: inform CSOs about CAO’s accountability role and dispute resolution and compliance work; and listen to their perspectives and concerns about development projects in Ghana. Civil society representatives from a variety of organizations (environmental and social NGOs, labor unions, national networks) and sectors (health, gender, anti-corruption, disability) participated. The video conference was organized in collaboration with the West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and SEND Ghana and had logistics support from the IFC office in Accra. Several of the participants based in the interior of the country connected via their laptops and smart phones.

The video conference began with a presentation on CAO made by several CAO staff. This was followed by Q&A and general discussion on CAO’s work in the region and the IFC portfolio in Ghana. Numerous issues were discussed including: how can isolated communities or affected persons contact IFC and/or CAO to raise concerns about projects; how can access to information be improved about IFC’s support for local companies and project activities; how are IFC standards on disability inclusion incorporated into IFC-financed projects in Ghana; and what is the size and nature of the IFC portfolio in the oil sector in Ghana. At its conclusion, several of the participants suggested that CAO partner with Ghanaian CSOs to carry out additional outreach events in the country, especially geared to potentially affected communities.