ActionAid Ghana’s third strategy
Engaging Power to Fight Poverty is founded on the basis that power is one of the fundamental causes of poverty and a critical ingredient in social change.
The 2004 to 2009 strategy sought to develop clear systems and processes to empower staff to deliver the organisational goals.
While the earlier strategy identified education, food security and gender, the four year strategy ending in 2009 shifted focus boldly from gender to women’s rights and introduced the new themes of HIV and Aids and governance. Ghana’s work on HIV, human security and governance is mainstreamed across regions and themes.
The issue of power is tackled at the four levels of; power to, power with, power over and power within as expressed in the following:
Build and strengthen poor peoples power to claim their rights and live a life of dignity
Challenge the injustice and inequity within communities at the national and global levels that perpetuate power over poor people and other oppressed groups
Support and enhance civil society's power to work with others to develop collective action against poverty and its causes
Strengthen poor people's power within by nurturing self-confidence and self esteem so that they can define their own agenda and advocate on equal terms with all.