The Department of Community Development has begun a nationwide engagement with staff as part of efforts to address operational challenges, strengthen service delivery and refocus its work on grassroots development.
The engagement continued in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, where regional staff participated in a consultation aimed at assessing challenges confronting community development officers and charting a new direction for the department’s activities at the district and community levels.
Addressing staff during the engagement, the National Director of the Department of Community Development, Mr Stephen Blay, said the department remained committed to promoting development in rural and peri-urban communities across the country.
“Our mandate is to facilitate and ensure that every community in Ghana is developed, especially those in rural and peri-urban areas,” he said.
Mr Blay explained that the department collaborates with other institutions to implement development programmes and improve livelihoods at the grassroots.
He said the consultations were intended to refocus community development officers on their core responsibilities, particularly community education, mobilisation and the creation of livelihood opportunities.
“My visit is to encourage officers to refocus on community education, mobilise communities to improve their living conditions, and provide skills and livelihood opportunities to make people financially independent,” he said.
Digitalisation and Local Products
Mr Blay also highlighted the role of digitalisation and innovation in helping communities promote and market locally produced goods.
“We help communities leverage opportunities provided by digitalisation and innovation to market their products,” he stated.
According to him, community development officers have an important role to play in helping people, particularly those at the grassroots, understand and benefit from government policies and initiatives.
“Our work will not be complete if we do not help people, especially those at the grassroots, to understand government policies and initiatives and benefit from them,” he said.
He added that effective coordination at the district and community levels remained central to the department’s work.
Mr Blay said the department had developed strategies to accelerate community development and improve living conditions across the country.
Eastern Region’s Role
The Eastern Regional Director of the Department of Community Development, Mrs Vera Lamiley Allottey, said the institution had contributed to national development through community mobilisation and stakeholder engagement for the past 78 years.
“The Department of Community Development has existed for the past 78 years and continues to play a vital role in community mobilisation and engagement,” she said.
Mrs Allottey said the Eastern Region was implementing UNICEF-funded child protection programmes and collaborating with public and private institutions to strengthen community development.
“Our mandate is community mobilisation and engagement. We work with key stakeholders to address the needs of communities,” she noted.
She said the department works with institutions including the Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service and the National Commission for Civic Education, as well as private institutions, stressing that community development requires a collective effort.
Mrs Allottey further disclosed that officers across all districts in the Eastern Region had been trained to engage communities and support programmes aimed at improving the well-being of residents.
The Eastern Region was the final stop on the National Director’s nationwide engagement tour, following meetings with district officers in other regions.
Staff Welcome Engagement
Staff who participated in the engagement expressed the view that the consultation would help improve their effectiveness and enhance service delivery at the community level.
They said the opportunity to share operational challenges and receive guidance on the department’s renewed direction would contribute to better engagement with communities and improve the delivery of development services.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Nhyiraba Solomon Nartey
