The STAR-Ghana Foundation has recognized the importance of promoting active citizenship as a tool to empower citizens to influence social change and achieve national development.
That informed its annual citizenship dialogue as a strategic space for discussing strengthening active citizenship in the country for good governance and inclusive development.
Hadjia Hamdia Ismaila, Chairperson of the Governing Council, STAR-Ghana Foundation, said this in Accra on Wednesday during the opening of the 2024 Akoto Ampaw Active Citizenship Dialogue.
The dialogue was organised by the STAR-Ghana Foundation on the theme: “Intergenerational Dialogue on Active Citizenship in Ghana: Lessons and Opportunities for the Future” in honour of the late activist, Lawyer Akoto Ampaw.
Subscribers of Star-Ghana Foundation, representatives of state and non-state institutions, civil society actors, academia and students among others participated in the dialogue.
Hajia Ismaila explained that the dialogue provided “strategic platforms” for critical discussion on promoting activism and reviewing the generational approaches to activism and their impact on development.
“The purpose of this gathering is, therefore, simple yet powerful as we seek to bridge generations of activism and also hope to gather the reflections and lessons that will help create pathways for greater civic engagements in Ghana”, she explained.
Mr Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, the Executive Director of STAR-Ghana Foundation, indicated that the Foundation recognized convening such dialogues as catalysts for action, improved coordination among stakeholders and mainstreaming the learning in interventions to achieve inclusive development.
He said the dialogue sought to harness inter-generational views on the lessons and challenges of activism to promote active citizenship, which was necessary for sustainable and inclusive development.
Mr Benard Koku Avle, the General Manger of Citi FM/Chanel One TV, eulogized the late Mr Akoto-Ampaw as an ardent activist whose activism had greatly impacted society as well as defended some high-profiled criminal libel cases against journalists, pro-bono.
Mr Avle, the guest speaker at the dialogue, described Mr Akoto Ampaw as a hero in the media profession, saying, “I'm very glad that GJA honored him because even though he didn't consider himself a journalist in terms of his definition of who he was, he did practice journalism”.
He advocated strong collaboration between the media, civil society organizations (CSOs) and other actors to advocate improved public services in all sectors of the economy including education, mental health and the built environment through activism.
“We must deal with poor service delivery. Poor service delivery because the quality of our life is determined by the quality of service given us in various fields, so there are opportunities to form specific sector-based advocacy in civic action”, he explained.
Mr Avle mentioned that creative arts including theatre could be harnessed as a strong medium for activism for social change. He emphasized the need for credible media for social accountability and built strong community collaboration to achieve the needed development and enhanced service delivery.
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