EVALUATION OF TRAINING OF STAFF THROUGH RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH: A CASE OF ACTIONAID GHANA

ABSTRACT

Good governance is a preferred system of claiming and legitimising

rights that can be boosted through effective citizen-state engagement. The

state often holds and controls the bulk of public resources and governments

must formulate policies and decisions for distribution of such resources to

ensure sustainability. While governments are built and held in power by

ordinary people, their authority and decision-making mandate often put them

in categories above those of ordinary persons.

The new approach to rural development entreats development agencies

to assist target populations to demand their rights from duty-bearers. One

critical area in this direction is the depth of knowledge of employees of

organisations that attempt to initiate Rights-Based Approach (RBA). This

study was therefore meant to evaluate training programmes for employees of

ActionAid Ghana (AAG) in RBA. A descriptive survey approach was

employed for the study. Participants for the survey were employees of AAG,

Community-based Organisations (CBOs) and assembly members with a total

of 50 respondents.

The findings from the study showed that majority of respondents had

an appreciable level of knowledge in RBA. Employees of AAG and their

collaborators in the CBOs found that the input of RBA on development of

communities in which they were engaged was high. However, collaboration

between government agencies and organisations promoting RBA was not seen

to be good. Heads of some state agencies felt they were being exposed by

RBA. It is recommended that all stakeholders are properly trained in RBA to

help accelerate community development.