Programmes

We seek to promote good governance in Ghana particularly at the local level. Good governance ensures respect for human rights and a recognition of the dignity of citizens; it provides citizens voice and protects their civic and democratic rights; it encourages transparency and accountability whiles discouraging corruption which is endemic in the Ghana; good governance also protects our institutions; and ultimately ensures civic engagement and the participation of communities in local governance and community development. Through the governance model we are also able to promote good financial governance and management processes, responsiveness of duty bearers to citizens and timeliness in public service and in the communities.

The TEERE Local Government Forum (TLGF) is the main governance flagship model that we use to achieve our good governance objectives. The District Assembly concept allows local representation at the local council, the decentralisation of some human and financial resources and entrusts planning at the local level to local authorities. Unfortunately, local communities and citizens in general do not fully participate in local government. Several factors account for this. First, local authorities still depend heavily on central government. For instance, financial resources mostly come from central government; central government appoints, pays and runs the local government service through the Head of the Local Government Service Secretariat (LGSS). The ruling government does not only appoint the Political Head of local councils; it appoints 30% of the District Assembly membership. Second, there is a poor understanding of the decentralisation and local participation concept. The result is that communities expect District Assemblies to do everything for them. Sometimes citizens expect to be induced before they vote or participate in community activities. Third, the exclusion of critical local governance communities such as women, People with Disability(PWDs), traditional political and spiritual authorities, political parties etc. from the local government system. In reality, therefore, there is no local government system.

The local government system has side-lined traditional and religious institutions that live closely with the people and have deep insights into alternative development policies. The TLGF concept therefore aims at operationalizing and decentralisation and local government through community sensitization, District, Regional and National forums on local government policy and practice. Our overall aim is to enhance transparency, accountability and responsiveness and fighting corruption in the local government structures.

TEERE as a people focused organisation is of the conviction that interventions in communities should be underpinned by properly conducted researches. These researches are the means of our assessment of critically underserved areas that need interventions. Indeed, this has been a major focus of the organisation because of numerous misapplications of donor funds resulting in withdrawal of funding or total closure of some early days NGOs.
We focus mostly on baseline, evaluation and impact researches to assess the feasibility, effectiveness and efficiency of our projects. The organisation thus has conducted researches on school fees, hawking, evaluation and impact of TLGF as well as baseline studies into the problems of dry season vegetable farmers around the Vea and Tono Dams.
We believe in the bottom up approach to development. Local community input into development planning is paramount because of proximity of the local communities to the challenges and their sense of appreciation of these problems. This perspective must lead to an all-inclusive solution development process to such problems. By far TEERE has engaged all stakeholders in development of solutions through consultative meetings, purposeful casual walk in discussions with community members and opinion leaders extensively in its operational areas. The one fit all centrally planned solution is not the viable approach.

TEERE is focused on the thematic area of youth and women empowerment. Women constitute a greater percentage of the population and are more economically active. To assist these women, TEERE has established more than two hundred and fifty Village Savings and Loans Associations(VSLAs). These are made up of twenty to thirty women in a group to improve their standard of livelihoods through investing economically in women development. The VSLA does not only have economic benefits but also to inculcate the culture of saving and serves as a leadership training ground for women. Our assumption therefore is that any intervention that targets women activities in a sustained and systematic manner is very likely to impact more on the local economy and the economic wellbeing of the people.

TEERE seeks to step into the gap to provide trade and business support particularly to women. We also want to create the necessary environment for the growth of businesses especially those managed by women. To us, women and the youth are major stakeholders and are accordingly represented in the activities of the organisation. It is our conviction that economic development without political participation is an activity in futility. Thus we seek both the economic and political inclusion of women and the youth. We have a very elaborate policy on Gender and Social Inclusion which ensures gender parity in our staff recruitment and board composition. We are focused on working on social exclusion.

Promotion of the culture & creative arts to accelerate development and economic wellbeing of the people is a major concern. This area is capable of improving the economic wellbeing of the people of the region through job and wealth creation. TEERE seeks to lead the charge in documenting and preserving the culture and creative art works. This is aimed at revitalising aspects of culture under threat of extinction. TEERE in collaboration with SES bring Experts to help local artisans to commercialize their indigenous products, adapting them to suit both local and foreign markets in order to earn additional income. Maximum gain is to be made through commercialising aspects of our culture and the creative arts to create more jobs and wealth. Also, provide the opportunity for local artists to develop their potential through training programs, such as instrumentation, voice, promotional activities, song writing and handling vocals.

TEERE is committed to the expansion of knowledge about culture in its operational areas through blending and understanding of the various cultural groups within communities. Thus advocate for greater state interest in the development of the UE culture and creative arts industry through policy formulation and institutional development at the regional and district levels. Culture as a thematic area plays a role in our strategic planning, influence our policies and the design of programs. We believe in engaging local communities actively will encourage cultural pluralism and diversity through education and promotion of cultural fairs, traditional festivals, and exhibitions.

Recent economic crises have pointed to widened inequalities within countries. Traditional sources of work and the expansion of the informal economy is the way to progress. TEERE believes a bottom-up remedy to local need is key in creating decent jobs in communities. TEERE seeks to drive employment creation by comparative advantages and the adaptation of unique local characteristics for branding. To achieve this, we study and develop the business potential of existing traditional products and market systems in the region in order to promote market systems that reflect local lifestyles. Our quest for an effective decentralization reforms in Ghana links into this focus area to provide opportunities for people to tap into the potential of local economies. This is aimed at the creation of employment at the local level. We also seek to deliver targeted skills training to enhance entrepreneurial capacity.

TEERE will continue tap into the expertise of SES that provides expert knowledge to boost sustainable, economic and social development. Beyond this, the creation of an enabling environment for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at the local level to strive through value chain improvement, business development services and facilitating easy access to finance. All in all, advocate for the development of an environment conducive to growth and success of businesses across all districts in the Upper East Region and the country at large.