The Media and Campaigns outfit tracks the impacts of global/regional/national rules, global/regional/national institutions (especially trade and finance) and global/regional/national corporations on the basic rights of the people. The department links social groups together in collective campaigns, alongside global initiatives, on the right to essential services and the right to participate in economic policy-making. It works to bring policy debates to the level of the people at the local government and grassroots level through popular communication methods
At grassroots level we:
i) provide capacity strengthening support (including training) to organisations
ii) support workers organisations (especially unorganised workers) to promote core ILO labour standards.
iii) promote civic and human rights awareness to groups
iv) provide legal aid to communities and individuals whose rights are trampled upon by those in power.
v) provide economic literacy education to the general public and groups.
vi) provide microfinance services through our subsidiary organisations.
vii) conduct relevant research
Ongoing Campaigns
Privatisation of Public Goods: ISODEC spearheaded the National Coalition Against Privatization of Water (NCAP). which has engaged the public, the Water Sector Restructuring Secretariat and the Ministry of Works and Housing and is exerting consumer and community pressure on Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to protect public interest.
Fee-Free Basic Education: ISODEC has been a leading actor on the campaign for the right to education in Ghana. ISODEC is campaigning for the abolition of school fees at the basic level of education.
Right to Anti-Retroviral Treatment: Though Antiretroviral treatment is available, its prices are prohibitive, making it affordable to none but the extremely rich. The ever-increasing cost of medicines, especially in the wake of WTO facilitated trade rules compounds this. ISODEC is campaigning for access and the right of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS to anti-retroviral drugs and treatment in Ghana and the West African Sub-region.
The Trade Campaign: ISODEC has in recent times, been very active on the trade policy front to effectively influence the trade agreements and policies in ECOWAS and embolden individual governments to resist the pressures of conditionalities and globalisation rules imposed by politically powerful multilateral entities.
The Extractive Industries Accountability Campaign: The objective of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is to increase transparency in the receipt and utilization of payments and revenues generated by extractive industries in countries which heavily depend on these resources. ISODEC represents civil society on the national steering committee and seeks to deepen the concept of transparency and accountability in the extractive industry of this country
A Parliamentary Lobby Programme has been developed to help strengthen ISODEC's links with the elected representatives of the people. ISODEC foresees a role in the provision of information and the provision of relevant training in various areas of public policy to members of Parliament. |
