Strengthening integration of REDD+ across sectors and sustainable development strategies in Ghana

Africa Forest Forum, in partnership with UN-REDD Programme and the  REDD+ office at the Directorate of Climate Change, Forestry Commission of Ghana , is organizing a National Policy Dialogue in Ghana. The aim of the Policy Dialogue is to strengthen integration of REDD+ across relevant key sectors for  better coordination among sustainable development strategies and policies. The dialogue is expected to strengthen collaboration and facilitate sharing of good practices and lessons learned among decision-makers, including those from outside the forest sector, such as Ministries of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

Expected outputs

The following outputs are expected to be achieved at the end of the policy dialogue:

1. Key policy actors in Ghana sensitized on sectoral policies and strategies that have potential to influence REDD+ implementation at national level;
2. Key policy actors in Ghana better enlightened on existing opportunities for mainstreaming and integrating REDD+ activities across relevant sectoral policies to contribute to the country’s sustainable development endeavor.
3. Key policy actors in Ghana better informed and understand potential disincentives/constraints at policy and institutional levels, that could negatively affect REDD+ process;
4. Entry points for addressing disincentives and harnessing opportunities discussed and consensus built among key stakeholders;
5. A road map developed with roles, responsibilities, and timeline for each REDD+ stakeholder for achieving the REDD+ coordination and integration, building on agreed recommendations for harnessing identified opportunities and addressing the constraints. 

Workshop approach

Under the facilitation of an expert on forest policy analysis, the workshop will include:

• Brief overview on Ghana REDD+ process, focusing on policies-governance-resource framework;
•  Presentations on key findings from the policy analysis with suggestion for (i) main opportunities for REDD+ integration and coordination across key sectors; (ii) disincentives/constraints for tapping on identified opportunities;
• Working groups and plenary dialogues to discuss (i) the opportunities and approaches for harnessing them; (ii) disincentives and ways for addressing them in order to fully explore the identified opportunities;
• Co-designing an action plan/roadmap with clear roles and responsibilities for each  stakeholders’ group for achieving the REDD+ coordination and integration.

The National Policy Dialogue will convene 30 in-person participants, mainly policy actors from key relevant sectors (forestry, energy, livestock, agriculture, land, wildlife, mining, industry and local government) selected from the REDD+ working group in Ghana and as well as leaders from national and international non-governmental organizations, Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Program (GCFRP) and private sector.