CSOs satisfy with training programme

Participants undergoing a-week’s training workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation, and Grant Management in Accra on Thursday expressed their satisfaction at the content of the first part of the training programme.

The training workshop is being organized by the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) with sponsorship from the French Embassy in Ghana under its fund for social development project.

The training is designed to strengthen their grant management competencies and also equip them with flexible skills to better monitor and evaluate the projects they would be implementing to achieve better results.

Mr Sarpong Gainsford, a representative from Hunger Alliance of Ghana, a beneficiary NGO, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the first phase of the training programme was fruitful because all the key topics were all treated with expertise.

“We are exposed to new ways of doing things that hitherto we do not pay much attention to,” he said.

Mr Sarpong said he had gained more experience than before because they were encouraged to share experiences with other organizations and that had made them well equip with skills to do better on their projects.

Mr Nab A. Afulang, Board Chairman of Foundation and Integration for Strategic Development (FISTRADE), said the training had given them the opportunity to learn new ideas to arouse stakeholders’ interest to continue with their projects.

“We were taught to always consider our targets before putting in our indicators to ensure that targets set for all projects are met. These are little things that although we are aware of them, we do not take them seriously, but now we will incorporate them into our activities to enhance our project,” he said.

Ms Faida Sulley, a representative from Children We Care Foundation, said the training had taught her how to hold meetings; how to file records, both digital and hard copies, and how to identify and manage shareholders well to achieve set targets.

She said her foundation offer sponsorship to needy but brilliant children from Basic level to Secondary level and the training would assist them improve on their monitoring and evaluation skills.

Four months after the training, WACSI would provide beneficiary organization organizations with technical advice to support their project management operations for projects specifically supported by the French Embassy.

Every year, the French government supports small and medium-scale develop projects in Ghana by providing financial support to community- based civil society organizations with its special programme “Fund for Social Development”.