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The Ghana Civil Society Organisations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (CSOs SDG 13) sub-platform on the 25th and 26th October 2018, held its first General meeting after its formation two years ago. The Sub-platform in line with the operational framework of the Ghana CSOs SDGs is convened by KASA Initiative Ghana and co-convened by CARE Ghana.

The Chairperson of KASA Ghana, Madam Hannah Owusu-Koranteng, encouraged the various organisations represented to keep striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 13 which focuses on Climate Action.

Also speaking at the conference was Mr. Peter Clausen of CARE who advised Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to endeavour to keep themselves relevant by being up to date with issues bothering on Climate Change. He emphasised the fact that, development partners will always want to support groups that are making relevant contributions in their various sectors. Other development partners such as the UNDP and the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF) were present to share solidarity messages.

Mrs. Ugonna Ukaigwe, the National Coordinator of the National CSOs SDGs platform passionately asked various CSOs to register their platforms with the National Civil Society Organisations Database to help in the circulation of information for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana.

The participants used the occasion to analyse and discuss the progress of the Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (Gh-NDCs) which was led by Dr. Daniel Benefor from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). There were also discussions on the Climate Change Master Plan led by Zakaria Yakubu of CARE Ghana. The global and national processes of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) as well as national climate financing issues were discussed all in an effort to bring participating organisations to speed on current developments in Ghana’s climate change agenda so as to provide a guide or basis for the CSOs SDG 13 sub-platform to engage constructively as a key ally in the fight against climate change.

The CSOs SDG 13 sub-platform among others committed to:

1.      Supporting government in the monitoring, verification and evaluation processes to addressing issues of data gaps on climate change.

2.      Mainstreaming climate change issues in the respective work plans.

3.      Deepen advocacy on climate change processes and interventions  

The Coordinator of the SDG 13 platform, Chibeze Ezekiel noted that the meeting was helpful in providing space for taking stock of the platform’s work to guide or inform new plans. He is confident that the platform will continue to remain relevant and active discharging its responsibility. He commended members for their support in planning and organising the meeting demonstrating a sense of ownership to the platform. Some immediate outputs from the maiden meeting were the development of a communique and the setting up of a Working Group to lead on planned activities for 2019.

About the CSOs SDG 13 Sub-Platform:

The sub-platform is a civil society coalition convened by Kasa Initiative Ghana and co-convened by CARE International, Ghana with over 110 membership base with a core aim of actively participating in Ghana’s climate change agenda as well as providing a space for learning and sharing among members.