GENDER & ELECTIONS INITIATIVE 2004

As part of its support to democracy and elections, UNDP Ghana developed an initiative on gender and elections, which had a strong civil society component. The idea was developed and shared with Canada CIDA, who provided an amount of 100,000 Canadian dollars as cost-sharing. UNDP Ghana associated DFID to the formulation of this initiative and explore the possibility of DFID joining it as a donor. Following several rounds of discussions to identify which organisations would be supported and which activities would be funded, UNDP and DFID signed a cost-sharing agreement in May 2004 for a total amount of £145,000, equivalent to US$ 256,650. These funds were administered by an already existing Gender Programme.

SMALL ARMS

UNDP Ghana and the Government formulated a small arm project, with a budget of $500,00 entirely funded by the United Kingdom . This funding is provided from UK contribution to the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Recovery Thematic Trust Fund. At the formulation stage of the project, the mission had extensive consultations with Government officials, civil society organizations, development partners, in particular the UK . The British High Commission in Ghana and DFID provided useful inputs to the formulation of the project. The project is successfully ongoing with very high visibility and impact. The British High Commission in Accra and DFID are kept informed of the development of the project and associated to its major public event. As an example, the UK High Commissioner participated in events such as the launching of the public awareness campaign and the destruction of small arms. Although the High Commission would be supportive, it appeared that the UK cannot provide additional funding directly to the Ghana project that would add to the contributions made through BCPR. The UK High Commission is currently actively supporting efforts to mobilise additional support and partnerships from other development partners such as the EU, Canada and the Dutch.

APRM

The African peer-review mechanism is strongly encouraged by the international community. Ghana is one of the pioneering countries in implementing the APRM. UNDP and DFID both expressed interest in providing financial support to APRM in Ghana . UNDP formulated a document for a project funded by UNDP with DFID cost-sharing. This document was shared and thoroughly discussed with DFID and the Government. However, at one stage, DFID made the decision to channel its assistance not through UNDP but directly as a purely bilateral project with $250,000 , primarily for office equipment. UNDP confirmed its commitment to implement the project that had been formulated for a partnership with DFID, and offered coordination to DFID. This project is currently ongoing with a budget entirely financed from TRAC.