The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in collaboration with Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) will organise a high-level West Africa policy conference on inequalities and natural resource management in Accra.
The four-day conference, slated for August 16-20, 2022, will address the role of natural resources management in reducing the widening economic and social inequalities in the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) region.
The Conference will draw participants from five ECOWAS countries- Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
Addressing a pre-conference meeting with stakeholders in Accra, Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, the Director General, NDPC, said inequalities and natural resources were key assets to the development of Africa.
The ability, he stated, to exploit and utilise those resources to improve on the citizens well-being were critical to the growth of the continent.
“There are issues of inequalities as to who is benefiting from these resources.These are assets and when not managed well might be a liability. Failure to manage these processes might affect Africa’s quest to development,” he said.
He said the Commission was pushing for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 10.
The Director General said the best way to manage the resources was to protect it and ensure equitable distribution for the benefit of all.
Mr Charles Bugre, a Development Consultant, said the Conference would determine the impact of natural resource governance from the Government policies to reduce inequalities in the sector.
Among others, he said, the Conference would touch on lessons from community and women’s struggles in the natural resource governance area and strategies to strengthen government leadership in the sector.
Ms Atieno Ndomo, the Conference Manager, said the goal of the event was to highlight policy pathways for the attainment of the SDG 10 through better natural resource management.
The outcome of the Conference, she said, was to prepare a technical paper, highlighting policy options for equitable development through transformed natural resource management.
Source: GNA
