Ghana has embarked on a transformative initiative to embed youth participation in the monitoring and evaluation of public policies, aiming to enhance governance and service delivery.
The Development Insights Hub (DIH) and the Young Evaluators Community of Practice (YECoP), launched in Accra, seek to equip young professionals with skills to critically assess government programs and drive accountability.
Professor Peter Quartey, Board Chairman of DIH and Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), underscored the urgency of consistent policy evaluation. “Many government programs lack rigorous assessment, leading to inefficiencies,” he stated. Quartey emphasized that training youth in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) methodologies could address this gap while creating employment opportunities. “Certified evaluators can contribute across sectors, ensuring policies are both effective and transparent,” he added.
The initiative responds to longstanding challenges in Ghana’s policy landscape, where insufficient evaluation has often resulted in misallocated resources and unmet developmental goals. Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, Head of the Civil Service, stressed that M&E must be integrated at the inception of policy design. “When treated as an afterthought, evaluation becomes ineffective,” he said. “Securing dedicated funding and adopting scientific tracking from the outset are critical to success.”
Dr. Aggrey-Darkoh also outlined accountability measures within the civil service, linking career progression to performance metrics influenced by M&E outcomes. “High performers advance, while those falling short face constraints,” he explained. This approach, he noted, fosters a culture of continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making.
The DIH aims to expand its reach beyond Accra, targeting regional and community-level policies to align with Ghana’s national development agenda. By involving young evaluators from diverse academic backgrounds, the program hopes to inject fresh perspectives into policy implementation. “Youth engagement isn’t just about skills transfer,” Quartey remarked. “It’s about building a generation that demands accountability as a norm.”
Ghana’s push to institutionalize M&E reflects broader global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, where robust evaluation frameworks are vital. With the public sector often criticized for opacity, initiatives like DIH could strengthen trust by demonstrating how taxpayer funds translate into tangible outcomes.
As the country grapples with economic constraints exacerbated by the pandemic, the focus on youth-driven evaluation signals a strategic investment in governance reform. By empowering young Ghanaians to scrutinize public programs, the initiative not only addresses immediate employment needs but also plants seeds for long-term systemic change. The success of such efforts, however, will depend on sustained political will and collaboration between academia, government, and civil society to ensure evaluations translate into actionable insights.
