STAR-Ghana Foundation is inviting volunteers to work directly with our implementing partners under the Actions for Voice and Inclusive Development (AVID) project. The partners are mainly grassroots organisations of/or working with underserved groups across the country. These organisations are passionate about their organizational strengthening and strengthening their capacities for effective programming for higher impacts on their constituencies.
We seek Volunteers of all ages and with the expertise, passion and character to serve in a host community as Technical Advisors to grassroots organisations. SGF will recruit, train and place selected volunteers with partner organizations for a period of up to one year, though this may vary depending on the assignment and or the volunteers’ availability.
Find more details about this opportunity below.
document CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS STAR GHANA FOUNDATION (41 KB)
document Volunteer Sign Up Form finalised (54 KB)
Completed form should be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Kindly note that the deadline to receive forms is 21st July, 2023.
Related projects
STAR-Ghana, OXFAM, other CSOs and INGOs reignite the push to accelerate Northern Ghana Development.
Conversations about development in northern Ghana need to be purposeful, coordinated and targeted; that was the overwhelming consensus reached at a Civil Society Organizations Forum on Development Coordination in Northern Ghana held in Tamale on March 14, 2023. The Forum, which was co-funded by STAR-Ghana Foundation and OXFAM with support from other organizations like Norsaac, ActionAid Ghana, GDCA and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) amongst others, reignited frank conversations on how to better coordinate and collaborate to accelerate development in Northern Ghana.
More than eighty (80) participating organisations – comprising community based organizations, women and youth-led/serving organizations based in northern Ghana, as well as CSOs and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) with either a physical or operation presence in northern Ghana, came together to deliberate on current state and gaps in collaboration and development coordination in Northern Ghana. The convening comes amid rising calls among civil society actors that the annual Northern Ghana Development Summits were failing to live up to the bill of serving as an agenda setting platform for the sustainable development of the north. CSOs in this forum therefore discussed among other things, modalities for repositioning themselves to maximize the platform provided by the Northern Ghana Development Summits to accelerate development in Northern Ghana. They committed to working together towards ensuring a coordinated CSOs input into the planning and delivery of the future summits to ensure that the summits are properly leveraged to sustain joint advocacies in between summits, and for mutual accountabilities among CSOs themselves on one hand, and between CSOs and the state for the sustainable development of northern Ghana.
A number of interventions, and strategies have been developed and implemented by various actors and stakeholders, to among other objectives, create economic growth and improve the livelihoods of the people in the north. These have focused on unlocking the potential of northern savannah ecology, addressing poverty and inequalities, and developing resilience of the people to create wealth while restoring the environment. Despite these, participants expressed worry that the efforts and rhetoric have not translated into results for communities and people of northern Ghana..
In his opening remarks, Executive Director of STAR-Ghana Foundation, Alhaji Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, called on CSOs to focus on purposeful actions that will help address the gaps and challenges impeding northern development. Alhaji Tanko said “we need to ensure that all our actions and efforts are effectively coordinated through collaborations, so that when we talk about northern Ghana, we will be referring to one of the pillars of development in Ghana instead of the usual narrative that depicts the north as improvised and underdeveloped.” Alhaji Tanko added, “there is also a need to acknowledge efforts made over the years at ensuring that we’re enabled to coordinate actions, culminating in some of the progress that has been made in northern Ghana in terms of development.
For his part, Alhaji Muhammed Awal, Executive Director of Norsaac bemoaned the seeming over politicization and control of development authorities established by the state as special purpose vehicles to address developmental challenges. According to him, “Civil Society is often seen as opposition by governing parties.” “But why shouldn’t I be in opposition?” he quizzed.
He explained that governments in power are custodians of citizens’ taxes, hence, there is a responsibility on everyone including CSOs to ensure that governments administer state resources in the best interest of the masses. This he reckoned would mostly make CSO critical of governments in power not because they are anti-state, but because they are contributing to shaping state policy and efforts to improve the lives of citizens. He maintained that individuals and organizations with the development of Northern Ghana at heart must push for a united platform to enable them challenge certain practices and systems that would not facilitate development work in Northern Ghana.
The CSOs Steering Committee
Following discussions and assessment of the gaps in collaboration and coordination of development efforts in northern Ghana, the forum proposed a set of recommendations and actions on addressing the gaps, to effectively collaborate and coordinate better towards the sustainable development of northern Ghana. Key amongst the proposals included position civil society to more effectively engage with the annual Northern Development Summits as spaces for building partners and exacting mutual accountabilities; developing a strategic plan for CSOs coordination; working towards establishing a CSOs regulatory body as a peer review mechanisms; and institutionalizing the CSO’s forum as an annual event amongst others.
To help take the recommendations forward, a CSOs Steering Committee was proposed – composed of an inclusive mix of youth and women-led organizations, community-based organizations, regional and thematic organizations, as well as national and international NGOs.
STAR-Ghana Foundation holds successful 3rd Annual General Meeting
STAR-Ghana Foundation (SGF) has held its 3rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) to, among others, consider and adopt Reports of the Governing Council, Executive Director and Auditors for the 2021/2022 financial year.
The AGM, held on Thursday, August 25th, 2022, in Accra with both in-person and virtual participation was in compliance with statutory requirements for the Foundation. Among other objectives, it served as a platform to provide strategic direction to the Governing Council for the development of the Foundation. The meeting also discussed key developments within the Foundation’s operating context during the reporting period and their implications for the organisation and its work.
Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, Chairperson of the Governing Council for STAR-Ghana Foundation, in her remarks said that the external context has continued to be challenging.
“In response to the context and in line with its vision and mission, STAR-Ghana is playing a key role in the processes leading to the establishment of a Ghana Civil Society Forum as a platform for coordinated voice and advocacy on issues affecting the sector. The Foundation is also, supporting local CSOs to pilot innovative approaches to local resource mobilisation for community development and their own sustainability, through the Giving for Change project”, she added in her statement to the AGM.
According to the Governing Council Chair, “the Active Citizenship Strategy has been developed and launched; and a draft operational plan has been developed for GC sign-off”, adding that “the development of a Local Philanthropy Strategy is underway, building on the lessons and results of the “Giving for Change” project funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.
Dr Ofei-Aboagye further notes that reductions in overall donor funding and changes in the focus of development assistance; Ghana’s ongoing economic crisis and its implications for the poor and disadvantaged; continuing declines in the quality of public goods and services, particularly health and education; as well as hijacking of spaces for public discourse and advocacy by the scorched earth approaches of strident partisan groups; have all combined to limit spaces for civil society and citizen activism as well as the sustainability of the civic sector.
For his part, Executive Director for the Foundation, Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu revealed that SGF has “directly engaged with approximately 151,000 citizens, working with 56 partner organizations and institutions”. According to him, STAR-Ghana Foundation’s work has contributed to “improved stakeholder coordination and collaboration towards sustainable peace, security and inclusive development in northern Ghana in particular and Ghana in general”. SGF has also developed and tested models of local philanthropy in Ghana as well as establish the Ghana Civil Society Forum for a more resilient and accountable civil society actor as well as provide advocacy for an enabling environment for Social Enterprises and Local philanthropy.
After the motion for the adoption of the reports was moved and accepted, the appointment of Prof Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu’s replacement on the GC and appointment of Directors were considered. Suzan Yemidi was nominated by the Emil Short committee as Prof Henrietta Mensa Bonsu’s replacement. Her CV was shared with members for further review and approval.
Highlights of Annual Report
The Annual Report also highlighted a number of key achievements during the period under review, including:
- Cumulatively, fourteen (14) partners were engaged by the Foundation through various forms of partnerships for the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF), Giving for Change (GFC) and Partnership Beyond Aid (PBA) projects.
- The Foundation’s Active citizenship strategy provides a framework for taking forward STAR Ghana’s aspirations for sustaining itself as a center of active citizenship. The strategy is anchored on three areas- promotion of volunteerism, involving an enabling environment and piloting of models of volunteerism at community, district and national levels; promotion of civic awareness, consciousness and activism among the citizenry; and facilitating the emergence and strengthening of citizen and social movements around issues of social inclusion, good governance and governance of public goods and services delivery
- Through the Partnership Beyond Aid project, capacities of 210 Medium Scale Micro Enterprises in seven (7) districts in northern Ghana were strengthened to assess government’s Covid-19 Alleviation Programme for businesses and to engage government-Business Advisory Centres and the Ghana Enterprises Agency on the recommendations from the community score card reports. The reports from the score cards have engendered conversations with the Ghana Enterprise Agency at both the regional and national levels, leading to openness to share more information to inform the conclusions from the report cards.
- Through engagements from SGF and our stakeholders, the Education Committee of Parliament, Ministries of Education and Finance and Ghana Education Service committed to a roadmap for achieving improved education budget execution, to ensure that annual education spending responds adequately to the needs of the sector. These actors have agreed to periodic meetings around the education sector budget cycle, to monitor planning and execution of budget at the overall and sub-sector levels. The Committee has also requested of the Scholarship Secretariat to present to the Committee modalities for ensuring equity in the awards of scholarships to Ghanaian students.
Future outlook
Chairperson of the Governing Council (GC) in her projections for the Foundation’s future emphasised "though the Foundation has gained acceptance as a national facilitator of required social change, there is more to be done to establish it firmly and sustain its work”. Dr Ofei-Aboagye added, “the present funding environment is still very challenging, and the pressure is on for the Foundation to be resourceful and innovative. Our efforts to promote the culture and practice of local philanthropy should inure to our benefit as well as contribute to a new way of sustaining our democratic governance practice”. “We are still very optimistic that the STAR Ghana Foundation will fulfil the vision that called it into being” she prayed.
The GC Chair expressed gratitude to the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Hewlett Foundation, Botnar Foundation, Comic Relief and the Global Fund for Community Foundations for their support. She also thanked subscribers, the Management and Secretariat under the “able” leadership of Alhaji Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu.
STAR-Ghana Foundation is a registered national CSO which aims to increase the effectiveness of citizens and civil societies to achieve an equitable inclusive society through the promotion of active citizenship and local philanthropy.
Terms of Reference for Developing Roadmap on Human Security & Gender Equality
STAR Ghana Foundation is seeking a resource person to lead the development of a Roadmap for Mainstreaming Human Security & Gender Equality into National Border Security Strategies/frameworks. This is part of the Foundation’s implementation of the Community cohesion project across six (6) border communities in the Upper East Region of Ghana, with funding from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ghana.
The project seeks to enhance communal and social cohesion through the establishment of dialogue platforms as a mechanism for collaborative problem solving around issues of security and socio-economic vulnerabilities in selected border communities. It also seeks to build capacities of members of the community dialogue platforms in relevant areas such as peace, border security, human rights and gender equality etc, and sensitize the selected border communities on prevailing border security threats. Find below a link to the document detailing the scope of the assignment and the expected deliverables.
TOR for Roadmap on Human Security & Gender Equality