A two-year partnership aimed at strengthening community agency, improving access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), enhancing livelihoods, and deepening government accountability has been launched in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region. The initiative, known as Ting Labginsim, is a collaboration between Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), Spark MicroGrants, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), and the West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly. This project will be implemented in 100 communities across the municipality.
The project gives residents the opportunity to identify their development priorities, mobilise local resources, and work collectively to address challenges affecting their communities. ACA Director of Community-Driven Development, Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo, stated that the project was built on the belief that communities have the knowledge and capacity to address many of their development challenges when provided with the right information, facilitation, and resources. The project will use ACA's Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), a community-driven approach that enables residents to determine their priorities and develop collective solutions.
The FCAP process will be implemented in three phases: community building and visioning; implementation and advocacy; and post-implementation. Nana Ama said the approach had already delivered projects in 107 communities in Fanteakwa South, Nkoranza South, Abuakwa South, and Atiwa West. These projects included clinics, schools, laboratories, markets, boreholes, poultry and palm-oil processing centres, milling and soap-making facilities, teachers' and nurses' bungalows, and community centres. The initiative has a strong focus on community ownership and sustainability.
Under Ting Labginsim, each of the 100 participating communities will receive a US$8,000 microgrant, bringing the total grant component to US$800,000. The West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly will also contribute US$400 per community, amounting to US$40,000 in counterpart funding. The Assembly's contribution is expected to strengthen local ownership and integrate community priorities into the municipality's broader development plans. This financial support is crucial for the project's success.
Nana Ama stressed that the partnership goes beyond financial support, noting that communities would contribute their ideas, time, labour, and local resources. The Municipal Assembly will provide technical support, monitoring, coordination, and links between community priorities and municipal development planning. The Assembly is also expected to work with relevant departments to provide weekly supervision, encouragement, and technical direction to participating communities. A steering committee has been established to oversee the initiative.
The steering committee, chaired by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), comprises representatives of the relevant partners and will meet quarterly to review progress, address challenges, and consider innovations to improve implementation. West Mamprusi MCE, Mohammed Rabiu Jabaah, underscored the importance of community ownership, stressing that the projects should belong to the communities rather than the Assembly or its development partners. He assured stakeholders that the municipality would "religiously" fulfil its part of the partnership.
Spark MicroGrants Ghana Country Director, Ann Squire, said the initiative reflected the organisation's belief that people closest to a problem were often closest to its solution. She said Ting Labginsim would strengthen WASH services, build livelihoods, and deepen accountability between citizens and government. The success of Ting Labginsim will ultimately be measured by whether communities continue to meet, plan together, mobilise local resources, and address their development challenges after external support ends.
Key points
- The project will be implemented in 100 communities across the West Mamprusi Municipality.
- Each community will receive a US$8,000 microgrant to support project implementation.
- The initiative aims to strengthen community agency, improve access to WASH, enhance livelihoods, and deepen government accountability.
