Developing Cases to Support EU Assistance for Decentralization, Local Governance, and Local Development

Begun in 2013, the European Union (EU) Thematic Program on Civil Society Organizations and Local Authorities (CSO & LA) fosters current and future EU development cooperation. Recognizing the need for, and the value of, multiple stakeholders’ contributions, the program seeks to eradicate poverty and support sustainable development through multi-actor approaches and inclusive partnerships. The European Commission (EC) engaged a Capstone team to pilot a new diagnostic tool to provide direction and guidance for its programming for decentralization and local governance. The EC selected Ghana as the priority country of focus, and the team traveled to Accra for interviews with members of government, donor agencies, academics, and civil society organizations. Synthesizing the interviews and academic research, the team populated the diagnostic tool assessing Ghana’s progress on decentralization. The tool will both guide future applications of the diagnostic in other geographic regions and inform the EC’s future work as it relates to decentralization in Ghana.