National Report 2022
This report provides an update on the progress of implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Ghana by tracking the progress of key performance indicators, identifying interventions that are contributing to the achievement of the commitments, as well as constraints, and opportunities to accelerate the implementation of the NUA.
The report was prepared in an open, inclusive, and multi-stakeholder manner, with the active participation of a wide range of state actors. A structure of Steering and Technical Committees was established to guide the process. The report focused on 45 indictors (37 original; 6 localised; and 2 proxy) covering all the six main commitment areas of the Agenda. The draft report was reviewed and validated in a series of workshops for stakeholder groups to ensure that the information presented in the report was a true reflection of Ghana’s story.
The implementation of the NUA is well integrated into the policy, planning, budgeting and monitoring systems in the country. The Agenda is integrated into the country’s National Development Policy Frameworks (NDPF) which provides the vision, overall goals, and objectives, as well as strategic direction for the development of the nation. The NDPF also serves as a guide for Local Governments (Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies) to prepare their Medium-Term Development Plans. These plans are aligned to the NUA for implementation at the local level.
Access to basic and safely managed drinking water services has improved over time. The 2021 Population and Housing Census shows that nationally, 9 in 10 households (92%) have access to improved sources of drinking water. Further, the statistics are tilted favourably towards urban dwellers where 97.8 percent of households have access to this service. Similarly, access to safely managed sanitation services has improved from 11.5 percent in 2016 to 13.3 percent in 2020. In the urban areas, access to safely managed sanitation services stands at 12.09 percent in 2020. There also exists legislation and policies that promote urban planning and management. Participation in the development process at national and local governments is guaranteed by the legislation – Constitution, Acts, and Legislative Instruments. The utilisation of the Internet remains high, especially in the area of education, communication and entertainment. Despite the progress made, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact. There exists also the challenge of affordable housing and access to land documentation.
The implementation of the NUA like in most countries has been affected by COVID-19. Despite the challenge, there are existing opportunities that when leveraged would help ensure the implementation of the NUA to build back better in the long term. These opportunities include the existence of legal and policy frameworks that support the implementation of the NUA; the existence of an implementation structure; continuous government investment in policies and programmes which fall under the NUA; the existence of sector ministries dedicated to implementing the NUA; and the existence of CSOs platforms that support and ensure implementation of the NUA.
