Linking Participation and Economic Advancement. Ghana Civil Society Platform on the IMF Programme: Case Study

Abstract

Eleven Accra-based civil society organisations (CSOs) working on social accountability, anti-corruption and governance joined forces in November 2014 to influence the design, implementation and monitoring of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed extended credit arrangement for Ghana (2015–18). Prior to the formation of the Civil Society Platform on the IMF Programme, there had been no citizen initiative specifically dedicated to a serious economic intervention like this in the country. The Platform has been at the forefront of CSOs’ engagement with key stakeholders (i.e. the IMF and Government of Ghana), articulating the views of ordinary citizens in language that policymakers can relate to. The sustained advocacy efforts have led to the safeguarding of pro-poor development spending, IMF programme extension by a year, as well as key structural reforms aimed at averting the need for another IMF bailout in the future.