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Dr. Sulley Gariba

Senior Policy Co ordinator Presidency

Dr Sulley Gariba Headshot
Date of Birth:
1958-05-04
Place of Birth:
Ghana

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Political Science and International Development, 

Carleton University, Ottawa, 1989. 

M.A., Political Science and International Relations, Carleton 

University, Ottawa, 1982.

B.A. (Hons.), Political Science, University of Ghana, 1981.

LANGUAGES & DEGREE

OF PROFICIENCY

English Speak, Read, Write (Excellent)

Dagbani Speak (Excellent)

Wale Speak (Good)

Dagari Speak (Good)

Twi Speak (Fair)

Yoruba Speak, Read, Write (Good)

Hausa Speak (Fair)

SUMMARY OF KEY QUALIFICTIONS – SHORTER BIODATA

Dr. Sulley Gariba is policy analyst and evaluation specialist with nearly 30 years experience in the design and implementation of systems for social policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation of poverty reduction and development effectiveness. 

Dr. Gariba is a leader in the international evaluation movement, having been founding President of the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) from 2002 to 2005 and President of the African Evaluation Association from 2007-2009. He advised the secretariat managing the first round Evaluation of the Paris Declaration between 2006 and 2008; has served on several expert panels, including a 7-member panel of evaluation experts established by the OECD-DAC and the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) to assess the evaluation function in UNICEF. 

He has served as team leader for the Review of UNDP’s Evaluation Policy in 2009; designed and delivered training on the use of citizen-based tools for evaluating poverty for over a dozen African Parliaments; and supported the design of water supply improvement projects Ethiopia and Eritrea; led capacity building for decentralized development in Nigeria; supported the establishment of Peace-building systems for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja and member states. 

In 2005-2006, he led a major evaluation of UNDP’s HIV and AIDS programmes in 10 Southern Africa countries and Ethiopia, adding to his expertise in the capacity to integrate HIV and AIDS considerations in development planning and management and evaluation. From August 2006 to November 2007, Dr. Gariba assisted the African Development Bank (African Water Facility) to develop a system of Results-based M&E. 

He is currently a member of the Evaluation Advisory Panel for the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and a former member of the Board of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and a member of the Advisory Panel for reviewing the Evaluation Policy for the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank.

At the policy level, Dr. Gariba is currently a senior Policy Advisor for the President of Ghana; is the longest-serving member and senior advisor on Ghana’s National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) He led the development and implementation of a comprehensive development strategy for the impoverished Northern Savannah Regions of Ghana, both as a national policy for poverty reduction and accelerated growth, and a long-term development program.

Dr. Gariba is Ghanaian, with strong professional, cultural and language capacity across Africa. He has a B.A. Honors degree in Political Science from University of Ghana, Legon; a Masters and Ph.D. in Policy and International Relations from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

PERTINENT EXPERIENCE

Policy Analysis, Governance & Decentralization

• Senior Policy Advisor the President of Ghana, coordinated the President’s Priority Policies from July 2012 to December 2012

• Development Policy Advisor, Office of the Vice-President of Ghana: coordinated the development of the SADA Policy and served as interim executive from 2009 to June 2012

• Team Member, Decentralization Policy Review, a joint Government of Ghana and Development Partners exercise, Ministry of Local Government, October 2006 to February 2007.

• Lead Consultant, Governance Component of the UNDP/Government of Ghana Common Country Assessment (CCA), 2004, under contract to the national Governance Programme and UNDP, March to July 2004.

• Institutional Development and Decentralization Expert, District Assembly Capacity Building Project (DISCAP) in Northern Ghana – Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Government of Ghana, 2000 to 2005.

• Process Consultant, National Decentralization Action Plan, Ghana Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development, 2002—2003.

• Participation and Decentralization Specialist, Public Participation in Local Governance (PPLG) Project sponsored by IBIS (Danish NGO) in Ghana, March 2001 to March 2004.

• Decentralization Specialist, the Danish Support to District Assemblies Project (DSDA II) in the Volta and Upper West Regions funded by DANIDA and the Government of Ghana – Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Accra, 1999 – 2003.

• Capacity Building Specialist, UNICEF-funded District Development Program in Northern Ghana. January 2000 to 2002.

• Project Manager and Lead Trainer, African Parliamentary Strengthening Programme, Canadian Parliamentary Centre and the Institute for Policy Alternatives – Ghana, 2003 to 2007

• Consultant for Core Team on Governance, Decentralization and Public Policy as part of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy, October 2000 to September 2001.

Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

• Team Leader, Independent Review of the UNDP Evaluation Policy, New York, April 2009 to January 2010.

• Team Leader, Action-learning, monitoring and evaluation assessment of Urban Poor Networks in Africa, as part of a Rockefeller Grant, October 2009 to present

• Peer Review Panel Member, Evaluation of Paris Declaration, OECD-DAC. March 2007 to present.

• Team Leader, Evaluation of the Organizational Capacity Building Program, IBIS-West Africa, September 2007 to March 2008.

• Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, African Water Facility of the African Development Bank (AfDB), coordinating the design of country-driven M&E systems and providing capacity building support for M&E in the water sector, August 2006 to November 2007.

• Evaluation Specialist in Expert Panel for the UNICEF Peer Review Panel, OECD-DAC and UNEG, October 2005 to July 2006.

• Team Leader, Evaluation of HIV/AIDS programmes in Eastern and Southern Africa, July 2004 -- 2005.

• Evaluation Consultant, Public Participation in Local Governance Project, DANIDA/IBIS-Ghana, 2001 to 2004.

• Consultant, Evaluation Assessment of Capacity Building Needs for the Eritrea Community Development Fund (ECDF), World Bank and Eritrea Government, 1999 to 2001 (5 missions).

• Socio-economist and Study Team Leader, Baseline Studies for Ethiopia Water Supply Rehabilitation Project, World Bank and Government of Ethiopia, 1997-1998.

• Socio-economic Expert, GTZ Feasibility Study for Water Supply Improvement in Volta Region, Ghana, February to July, 1996.

• Coordinator, Socio-economic Baseline Survey and Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Study for the Northern Region Rural Integrated Programme (NORRIP) funded by the Ghana Ministry of Finance and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), 1990 to 1994.

• Evaluation Coordinator, Evaluation of PAC multi- year projects in Africa, Partnership Africa-Canada, Ottawa, 1993 - 1997.

• Team Leader, Evaluation of Partnership and Institutional Strengthening of 10 Canadian and African NGOs in Burkina Faso, Mali, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, January to June, 1994.

• Team Leader, Beneficiary Profile and Project Design for Women in Credit Project in Northern Ghana, CUSO-Ghana, 1992

• Project Coordinator, Monitoring and Evaluation Project, Northern Region Rural Integrated Development Programme, Canadian International Development Agency, Ghana, 1989-1994.

• Evaluation Project Team Member, The Upper Regional Water Programme Evaluation, Canadian International Development Agency, Hull, and Ghana Water and Sewage Corporation, Bolgatanga, Ghana, 1984-1985.

Related Experience

Policy and Strategic Moderator, engaged by the World Bank to facilitate a leadership session between the Government and Legislature in Liberia, towards negotiating the Budget Approval Process in Liberia, May to June 2006.

Training Moderator in Strategic Planning for the Office of the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, the MDG Secretariat and the National Planning Commission of Nigeria. Responsible for the design and implementation of strategic planning for key strategic institutions, January to April 2006.

Results-Based Management and Evaluation Specialist, African Development Bank, since December 2005 to present, on contract to design and test Results-Based Application and M&E protocols and instruments for the African Water Facility, and providing inputs into the preparation of guidelines and manuals that adhere to RBM principles and practices.

Results-Based Management Trainer and M&E Specialist, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA – Nigeria Programme),since February 2006 to be implemented in March 2006, contracted to design Performance Management Framework for in-country project monitoring and training the Nigeria Development Commission on the use of RBM in planning.

Capacity Building Specialist for institutions internationally: since 2004, under a CIDA contribution agreement, supports the development of Results-based management capacity in ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja, Nigeria; and among 15 ECOWAS-member states in West Africa. Through this effort, has facilitated the establishment of a Project Management Unit and provided advise on the preparation of detailed work plans, reporting systems and the preparation of a training and capacity-building strategy to strengthen conflict prevention and peace-support activities in the sub-region.

Institutional Development Specialist, since 2000, for the CIDA-funded District Capacity Building Project (DISCAP) covering all 24 Districts in Northern Ghana. Has been responsible for developing strategic directions in building capacity for decentralized management and governance of water and sanitation, moderating policy dialogue, developing strategies for, and supporting district and civil society partners in building capacity for poverty monitoring in Northern Ghana.

Decentralization and community management specialist, for over 3 years, supported the development of decentralized capacity building for over 200 NGOs in Nigeria, under a DfiD-funded Capacity Building for Decentralized Development Project.

Policy Analysis in the water sector in Ghana -- over 15 years as specialist, supporting national strategic planning on the water sector in Ghana (1990-2003), being one the key moderators in the preparation of the national community water and sanitation sector strategy; a facilitator of annual policy dialogues between donors, civil society and public sector agencies; provided professional support to stakeholders in the transition from centralized management to community management of water and sanitation; and provided support to leading agencies, including CIDA, DANIDA, GTZ and the World Bank in various sector reviews.

Senior advisor and socio-economic specialist in Ethiopia – For 3 years (1997-1999), supported the design of major small towns water projects funded by the World Bank in Ethiopia, by conducting extensive socio-economic surveys and assessing community demand and readiness for transition to community-based ownership and management of small towns water supply and subsequently participated as member of various World Bank Task Teams for the design of management modalities for small towns water supply and the appraisal of project start-up.

Capacity building specialist and trainer for the World Bank-funded Eritrea Community Development Fund (2000 to 2001), providing intermittent professional advise for the preparation of national capacity building strategies and supporting pilot efforts to integrate participatory training techniques into community management capacity building and advising the Ministry of Local Government on decentralized governance and ownership of the installed water supply and sanitation facilities that are community managed.

Community Management Specialist in Ghana small towns water and sanitation development – for over 9 years (1990-1999) as community management specialist for the largest CIDA-funded project in capacity building for community management of small towns water supply covering 32 small towns, including over 8 towns in the Eastern Corridor of Northern Ghana; 3 years as Principal and Community Management Specialist for the GTZ-funded Small towns water supply and sanitation development project in Eastern and Volta Regions, involving 28 small towns in both regions; 2 years as Community Development Specialist in design and management of small towns water supply development in the Western Region of Ghana, under a World Bank/CWSA-funded project; 6 years (1999-2005) as organizational development specialist for the Northern Region Water & Sanitation Project (NORWASP) funded by CIDA in the Eastern Corridor of the Northern Region.

5 years advisory positions to Danish-funded water and sanitation sector support programs, including as member of various appraisal missions, and as institutional development specialist for design of the current Danida Sector Support Program in 2002-2003.

Institutional Development Specialist, World Bank Mission on Review & Reformulation of Water Sector Rehabilitation Project in Ethiopia, October to November, 1998.

Principal Trainer for District Assemblies on Water Supply Planning and Management, as part of CIDA-funded Ghana Assistance Project, involving 30 small towns in 3 Northern Regions

Decentralization specialist for DANIDA-funded decentralization project – for 4 years (1997-2001), provided leadership in developing concepts for a sub-district development fund, and delivering training to over 160 Area Councils in 17 Districts under the DANIDA-funded District Assembly support project in Volta and Upper West Regions. Through this project, prepared the first strategic plans and implemented capacity building tools at the sub-district level.

Participation and Decentralization Specialist for Danish-NGO, Ibis– supported the design, implementation and provides on-going process monitoring for the Public Participation in Local Governance Project, focusing on civil society interface with District Assemblies at the lowest levels in 3 districts (2 in Northern Ghana) and the third in Tema, Ghana.

Specialist on District-level PRSP, since early 2005 and on-going for 2 years, providing professional advise in the establishment of community-District Assembly interfaces as part of the civil society monitoring of district-based PRSPs under GTZ-funded Civil Society/Local PRSP project in Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Aug 2002 to Present Executive Director, Institute for Policy Alternatives, Ghana

1986 to 2002 Chief Executive Officer, Gariba Development Associates Ltd., Accra, Ghana

1986 to present: Senior Associate and West Africa Representative, E.T. Jackson & Associates 

Ltd., Ottawa, Canada 

1986 to 1989: Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada 

1989 to 1991: Coordinator, CIDA Cross-Cultural Training and Orientation Program for Ghana 

1981 to 1989: Orientation Resource Person, Briefing Centre, Canadian International 

Development Agency (CIDA), Hull, Canada 

SERVICE IN AND KNOWLEDGE OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

• One year as RBM and M&E Specialist for the African Development Bank’s African Water Facility.

• One year as M&E Team Leader for evaluation in 10 Southern Africa Countries and Ethiopia for UNDP Evaluation Office

• Five years as consultant (undertaking various missions) in Nigeria

• Two years as institutional development specialist in regional body, ECOWAS, covering 15 West African states

• Two years as World Bank consultant (undertaking various missions) in Eritrea

• Two years as World Bank consultant (undertaking various missions) in Ethiopia

• Two years as senior consultant to UNDP on HIV and AIDS in Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe.

• Various missions to Kenya; Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS/ PRESENTATIONS

• "Partnership for Sustained Poverty Reduction Strategy: Challenges for an Inclusive State-Civil Society Relations in Ghana”, CIDA, Development Cooperation Conference June, 2001, Ottawa.

• "Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation: Challenges and Opportunities”, International course on Monitoring and Evaluation, World Bank & Carleton University, Ottawa; June 2001.

• "Government and Voluntary Sector Collaboration for Programming on Basic Human Needs to Reduce Poverty", CIDA Annual Consultation with NGO Sector in Canada, Nov. 1998, Ottawa.

• "Participatory Impact Assessment as a Tool for Change: Lessons from Recent Experiences in Poverty Alleviation Projects in Ghana," Paper presented at the International Evaluation Conference, Vancouver, Canada. November 1995.

• Partnership for Participatory Research and Evaluation of Integrated Rural Development, Paper presented at the Canadian Learners' Conference, Carleton University, Ottawa, June 1993 (Co-authored with Dr. Ted Jackson, Carleton University).

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• Member, and former Board of Directors, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)

• Member of Evaluation Panel, Alliance for Green Revolution (AGRA)

• Member and former President, African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) – 2007 to 2009

• Member and Former President, International Development Evaluation Association, 2002 to 2005

• Member, Ghana National Development Planning Commission, 2001 to present

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