District-Wide Assistance Project

Results achieved as of the end of the project (March 2011) include: The combined results of this project and of the successor District-Wide Assistance Transition project (DWAP) were captured in an independent evaluation completed in February 2011. Overall the evaluation found that DWAP has been a very successful activity. It has helped to deepen the administrative and accountability dimensions of decentralization in northern Ghana. It has also demonstrated the viability of decentralized budget support. Canadian funding delivered through this project financed 761 initiatives drawn from district development plans in 38 districts in Northern Ghana. Of the total initiatives 488 are in the education sector (classrooms sanitation facilities school furniture). Currently an estimated 40 000 students including approximately 16 000 girls benefit each year from the enhanced learning environments in 1 100 new classrooms. Other district initiatives include water and sanitation facilities health facilities (rural clinics improved community health compounds nutrition centres) community market infrastructure and police posts. Districts have shown steady improvements in their planning financial management procurement and monitoring of projects. The project was used as a template for the District Development Facility a large-scale national Government of Ghana program established in 2008 to support local governments.