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UNDERSTANDING GHANA’S INVESTMENT CASE: INSIGHTS FROM YAG’S X SPACE DISCUSSION

Mar 11, 2025 | News Update

Participants of the X Space Panel Discussion

As part of the activities of the Youth for Global Financing Facility (Y4GFF) project, Youth Advocates Ghana (YAG) hosted an insightful discussion on April 25, 2024, to increase ‘understanding of Ghana’s investment case in health care’. The discussion is part of YAG’s ongoing efforts to empower youth and enhance advocacy in health-related issues. The discussion, held on the X Space platform, brought together key stakeholders and experts in health to shed light on Ghana’s healthcare landscape and the significance of Ghana’s investment case in driving positive change.

Background: The Y4GFF project, spearheaded by YAG, aims to build the capacity of youth-led organizations (YLOs) in Ghana to engage with the Global Financing Facility (GFF) and the country’s investment case. This initiative seeks to help YLOs working on sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (SRMNCAH+N) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) advocate for improved health care outcomes.  

The panel on X Space included Andrew Moran, PAI’s International Advocacy Associate, Pearl Adwoa Opoku-Youngmann, GFF’s Liaison Officer in Ghana, and Emmanuel Mwini, the Ministry of Health’s Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. The discussion provided valuable insights into Ghana’s investment case for healthcare delivery, key priority areas of action, modalities for implementation, successes and challenges on implementation and meaningful youth engagement with key stakeholders in health. 

Key highlights and messages 

  • Ghana’s investment case is a policy to scale up healthcare delivery and access and the policy document is derived from Ghana’s roadmap for achieving universal health coverage. The Health Sector Medium Term Development plan is implemented by the government of Ghana, with funding from the World Bank and the GFF. 

  • The investment case has over 100 key priority areas. It seeks to create responsive healthcare systems by clustering and strengthening community health planning systems (CHPS) compounds and linking them to well-resourced health centers at the district level. 

  • The policy also seeks to decongest secondary and tertiary levels of health care delivery by reorganizing and strengthening health care delivery at the district level.

  • Modalities for implementing the investment case is a performance-for-results strategy, where financial inputs are done through disbursement-linked achievements to incentivize implementation.  

  • The Ministry of Health (MoH), Ghana Health Service (GHS), National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), and Health Facilities Regulatory Authority (HeFRA) are key implementing bodies. 

  • Progress made in implementing the investment case initiatives is positive; however, some challenges and shortfalls exist.

  • The investment case is skewed towards service delivery to the neglect of research and specialized healthcare deliverables.  

  • Bureaucratic delays in approving the policy and disbursing funding for implementation are setbacks to achieving deliverables. 

  • There is a lack of civil society support in implementation at all levels. 

  • Due to the reallocation of funds for implementation in other sectors, only 80 percent of receivables were obtained. 

  • There is a lack of information about the policy at the local level where implementation is taking place.

  • The importance of youth-led advocacy in promoting youth-centric interventions was also highlighted. 

  • To ensure meaningful youth engagement and participation, the discussion highlighted the need to create coalitions and working groups for effective advocacy.

  • Strategies for effective advocacy and mobilizing action towards the implementation of Ghana’s investment case were highlighted including the use of social media. 

Opportunities for transformation 

  • Health financing reforms require fully implementing the Abuja declaration and developing health sector plans to meet the financing landscape.

  • The plan must be reviewed to include specialized healthcare delivery and health research.

  • There is a need to improve and broaden health sector financing to include private sector investments and other areas.

  • There is a need for meaningful engagement of CSOs and YLOs on sector plans. 

The X Space discussion aimed to foster a deeper understanding of Ghana’s investment case among youth and the public. It also sought to develop targeted advocacy messages for social media campaigns, thereby mobilizing support for youth-centric interventions in health care. The insights generated from the discussion will inform future advocacy efforts and contribute to improved healthcare outcomes in Ghana.

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