Planning and Development of Social Services for Persons with Disabilities

Soziale Dienste zur Unterstützung von Menschen mit Behinderungen haben sich in den letzten Jahren dynamisch entwickelt und unterliegen auch aktuell einem erheblichen Veränderungsdruck. Die Forschungsarbeiten, die in diesem Band versammelt sind, haben die Entwicklung hin zu einer inklusionsorientierten Unterstützung in zahlreichen Projekten auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen aktiv begleitet.Social services to support persons with disabilities have developed dynamically in recent years and are currently subject to considerable pressure to change. The research work collected in this volume has actively accompanied the development towards inclusion-oriented support in numerous projects at different levels

Die Rolle zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationen und traditioneller Autoritäten im Hinblick auf eine wirksame Beteiligung an der Dezentralisierung und lokalen Verwaltung: Eine Fallstudie über ausgewählte Gemeinden in Ghana

In recent years, several sub-Saharan African countries have implemented a robust decentralization policy towards governance reformation to enhance civic participation in the decision-making process. Against the background, this study examines civil society organizations and traditional authorities’ role toward effective participation in Ghana’s decentralization and local government policy. The assumption is that traditional authorities and civil society organizations’ legitimacy enable them to play a crucial role in the governance and development discourse. Accordingly, a participatory approach was adopted within a qualitative methodological framework, which informed the case study as the research design type. Data was obtained through a semi-structured interview, non-participant observation, focused group discussions, documents, and material culture analysis. Respondents were purposefully selected from Metropolitan Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs), Community-based Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and Traditional Authorities from three selected municipalities in Ghana: Nsawam/Adoagyiri, Suhum, and Cape Coast. This study reveals that in addition to the conventional role of civil society organizations and traditional authorities in service areas such as health, education, advocacy, and general community development, they also perform an exceptional function in local governance as an impartial force in providing checks and balances and support on local government functionaries. Thus, their involvement in local government administration in the decision-making and implementation process is vital in enhancing accelerated national development

Facilitating the interaction between citizens and local governments through information and communication technology (FACIL-ICT)

FACIL-ICT is a Pilot project in Nsawam/Adoagyiri and Suhum municipalities in the Eastern region of Ghana. The project seeks to discover new possibilities for effectively improving communication between the people in rural communities and local government structures in the Municipalities through Information Communication Technology (ICT). It intends to build on current structures and practices to develop a two-way communication system between local government structures and the people in dispersed rural communities within the municipalities to provide information on health and social welfare service delivery