Forum for the Future of Aid

The 2002 Ghana Budget, Wrapped Around HIPC and Property Owning Democracy

Source: ISODEC

The Centre for Budget Advocacy of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) presents the second of its annual analysis of the national budget. The report takes a critical and questioning tone. IT aims to promote public debate on what constitutes the appropriate policy directions and the means by which scarce Ghanaian public resources can be best managed and put to use for the common good.

In ISODEC’s analysis of the 2001 budget, they have sought in this analysis, to answer questions
that are essential to their mission: These include:

Are the budget priorities likely to advance human rights, promote social justice and equity, and reduce poverty? To what extent is the budget consistent with the best intensions of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy?

To what extent is the budget truly a product of domestic consensus as opposed to a response to external interests?

Is the budget an effective instrument for addressing the social contract between Ghanaians and their government?

This report is different from the 2001 one in one respect: it seeks an interpretation of the philosophical underpinnings of the government’s declared goal which is to build a “property owning democracy”, and how this goal informs the priorities and policy choices that the budget expresses. Being the first budget after the adoption of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) and the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief initiative, our analysis explores how these frameworks exert influences on policy and allocation priorities. Thus the title, “Wrapped up in Property Owning Democracy and HIPC”.

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Public Forum on the Role of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Ghana’s Development Process

Source: ISODEC

As part of its Advocacy programmes the Globalisation Response Programme (GREP) of ISODEC organized a two-day public forum under the topic " the role of the nternational Financial Institutions in Ghana's Development Process".

The first day's programme was an open forum organized at Teachers' Hall. The forum sought to answer questions such as; what has been the role of IMF in Ghana's development process? Between IMF and World Bank who is responsible for what? How will the poor fare under HIPC? Also incorporated n the day's programme was the launching of the book "The 2001 Annual Budget: A call to honour the Social Contract" a research analysis by the Center for Budget Advocacy, a Unit of ISODEC.

The forum was organized to deliberate on the following sub-topics:
• HIPC Conditionalities and Ghana's development options
• The social and economic consequences of the current austerity measures
• Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme: Conditionality or a development
Strategy?

Each topic had three panel members and a moderator to lead the discussion. There were questions and contributions after each panel presentation.

The second day’s programme was a strategizing session organized to brainstorm on possible solutions to the issues/problems raised during the previous day’s open forum and to possibly write a memorandum on them to the President of the Republic. Two workshops were organized during the session.

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