Deputy Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah
Ghana has demonstrated strong leadership and strategic progress in localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as shared during a high-level side event on Multi-Level Governance for SDG Localisation held on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Nairobi. The event formed part of the resumed second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, convened by UN-Habitat.
Representing Ghana was the Deputy Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, Hon. Rita Naa Odoley Sowah (MP), who outlined Ghana’s practical approach and policy infrastructure for localising the SDGs through coordinated national and sub-national governance systems.
At the national level, she highlighted the central role of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) as Ghana’s apex planning institution, responsible for developing national policy frameworks, issuing guidelines to sectors and local authorities, and producing Annual Progress Reports that incorporate SDG indicators. The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, working in close partnership with the Ministry of Finance, facilitates the development of planning and budget guidelines that align local development efforts with global goals.
Ghana’s SDGs Advisory Unit, located in the Office of the President, also plays a pivotal role in coordinating SDG implementation across government agencies and with development partners.
She noted that Ghana’s national policies, including the National Urban Policy and the National Slum Upgrading and Prevention Strategy, are deliberately designed to align, adapt, and adopt the SDGs into the country’s development priorities, consistent with the principles of the Partnership Platform for Localising the SDGs.
At the sub-national level, Hon. Sowah emphasised the importance of stakeholder collaboration and innovation. She referenced the Ghana Smart SDG Cities Programme, a flagship initiative supported by UN-Habitat, which seeks to integrate the SDGs into city development using data-driven planning, spatial development frameworks, and community-led approaches. Ten selected Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies are currently at varying stages of implementation, particularly in spatial planning and investment identification.
Assemblies such as the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Ga West Municipal Assembly, and Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly have already embarked on Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), making Ghana one of the few countries in Africa advancing local-level SDG reporting.
Hon. Sowah further highlighted Ghana’s commitment to transparency and results by citing the NDPC’s reporting templates, which allow both national and local authorities to track how their programmes contribute to the SDGs. She also acknowledged the critical oversight role of the Regional Coordinating Councils in monitoring and evaluating the performance of Local Authorities under Ghana’s decentralised governance framework.
To support this entire ecosystem, she noted the establishment of key institutions, including the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation, the Institute of Local Government Studies, and the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service, all of which are tasked with policy coherence, technical capacity-building, and administrative oversight.
In her concluding remarks, the Deputy Minister emphasised that Ghana is scaling up efforts to deepen its partnerships with UN-Habitat and other development actors to implement the New Urban Agenda. She expressed the country’s full support for the adoption of the upcoming UN-Habitat Strategic Plan (2026–2029) and the International Guidelines on People-Centred Smart Cities.
She cited the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP), implemented in areas like Ga Mashie, as an example of how targeted urban interventions can produce tangible benefits for the urban poor.
“Ghana remains committed to translating global commitments into meaningful local action. Through bold policies, inclusive planning, and strong partnerships, we are shaping cities that work for everyone, especially the most vulnerable,” she stated.
