BY GRACE ZIGAH
Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe, has been appointed to Ghana’s Joint National-United Nations Steering Committee (JSC), the country’s highest strategic governance platform responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).
The appointment comes under the administration of President John Dramani Mahama as Ghana and the United Nations begin preparations for the country’s next 2027–2030 Cooperation Framework, which will guide how the UN system aligns its programmes and resources with Ghana’s national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to a statement issued by IMANI, the Joint National-UN Steering Committee serves as the apex decision-making body responsible for providing strategic oversight for one of Ghana’s most important national development planning processes.
The Committee is co-chaired by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and the United Nations Resident Coordinator and comprises senior government officials, heads of United Nations agencies, development partners, private sector representatives, civil society organisations and minority groups.
Its mandate extends beyond policy advice to include reviewing implementation progress, identifying emerging development challenges and opportunities, strengthening mutual accountability between the Government of Ghana and the United Nations, promoting policy coherence, mobilising development resources and coordinating partnerships among government institutions, development partners, civil society and the private sector.
The Committee is also responsible for endorsing annual development results, reviewing Country Results Reports, overseeing independent evaluations of the Cooperation Framework and recommending strategic adjustments where necessary throughout the implementation period.
His international recognition includes being named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010 and being listed among The Africa Report’s Top 50 Africans. He has also undertaken executive education and leadership programmes at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and the Montreal Economic Institute, while serving on several national policy advisory bodies, including the Ministry of Finance’s Foreign Exchange Development Committee.
According to IMANI, the appointment reflects the growing recognition of the important role that independent public policy institutions and civil society organisations play in shaping national development planning.
The organisation said it views the appointment as an opportunity to contribute its longstanding commitment to evidence-based policymaking, institutional reform, public financial management, accountable governance and policy innovation to Ghana’s partnership with the United Nations.
