Ghana joins Philanthropy Platform to foster sustainable development

More than 80 leaders met in Accra on Thursday  to discuss how to join forces to collectively implement the post- 2015 Sustainable Goals (SDGs) in Ghana.

Participants drawn from business, philanthropy, social, investment, the UN system, non-governmental organisations and government had a rare opportunity to exchange information and share their ideas concerning the future of Ghana’s development.

The leaders discussed a broad array of challenges relating to water and sanitation, education, livelihoods and youth employability.

The workshop was organised by the Post-2015 Partnership platform for philanthropy- a project of the United Nations Development Programme Foundation Centre, and a group of leading foundations guided by the Rockefeller philanthropy advisors- which is facilitating a more active role for philanthropy in the planning and implementation of the SDGs.

The platform receives guidance from leading funders, including the Conrad N. Hilton, Ford, and MasterCard foundations.

“The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has been investing in water projects in Ghana for over 25 years,” said Edmund Cain, Vice president for grant programmes at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

“With the vision provided by the SDG 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) our Foundation sees an opportunity to leverage its future investments with other partners to finally achieve this goal, and hopefully earlier than 2030.

Following series of global stakeholder consultations, 17 SDGs have been proposed as part of broader post-2015 Development Agenda.

When adopted in September 2015 by governments, the SDGs would succeed the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) that come to a close this year.

“Effective partnership and resources mobilisation are needed for the financing of the Sustainable Development Goals. Philanthropy can be the new and emerging partner to leverage its position and contributions to bring along other non-governmental actors to engage in financing equitable and sustainable development” said Christine Evans-Klock, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident representative for Ghana.

The post-2015 partnership platform for philanthropy was launched in November 2014 to help grant makers better understand the opportunities for engaging in global development process.

It also creates a means for philanthropy to participate more in the discussions on the post-2015 agenda and to play a greater role in shaping future goals by giving a greater voice to grantee partners.

Ghana joins Kenya, Colombia and Indonesia as a country of focus for the platform.

“As philanthropy grows worldwide, so can its role in this effort to solve the glob’s most challenging problems”, said Bradford K. Smith, President of New York City-based Foundation Centre.

The partnership platform would be enormously important to deepen understanding across sectors, foster cross-sector collaborations and accelerating progress on important goals in individual countries.

To encourage knowledge exchange globally, later this year, the Platform initiative would launch SDGfunders.org, a free website that would provide data on philanthropic investments and serve as a worldwide hub for sharing case studies and online discussions.

GNA