She made these remarks at the 20th anniversary celebration of SEND WEST AFRICA in Accra on the theme "20 Years of Empowering Good Governance and Transforming Lives: A Ghana Development Success Story".

Mr Siapha Kamara, Founding CEO of SEND West Africa said they are focused on the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals such as ending poverty, education for all, improving healthcare and so on. He said the SDGs are attainable.

To strengthen the fight against corruption, he urged parliament to pass the Right to Information Bill (RTI) and ensure it is done before the end of 2018.

He applauded the Government of Ghana for the  Progressive Income Tax and called for expansion of tax incentives especially for young Ghanaian entrepreneurs  in the Information Communication and Technology sector to promote their softwares.

Mr Kamara expressed gratitude towards Canadian Global Affairs, Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada, Oxfam and other organisations. He urged the payment of taxes and not the reliance on donor funding to progress.

 The Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and Director, USAID/Ghana Mission, Sharon Cromer, also said that USAID considers SEND as a strategic partner adding that SEND's commitment to increasing access and give a voice to the citizens is applaudable.  "Citizens must participate in determining policy priority "she said.

She  applauded SEND's resolve to scrutinize public institutions to hold governments accountable. She said that USAID has partnered SEND WEST AFRICA on many levels such as the SEND Eastern Corridor Livelihood Security Promotion Program, which adapted an integrated approach including security, human rights and so on. A staggering 4000 beneficiaries in 2000 households were reached with life saving and income generating activities. Malnutrition was reduced from 37 per cent to less that 19 per cent.

She said that the partnership has paved the way for more projects in health, democracy and other sectors.

Present at the event were

Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, Social Policy Analyst, and  Hajia Alima Mahama, the HonourableMinister for Local Government and Rural Development, SEND GHANA was established on August 4, 1998 with the maiden name Social Enterprise Development Foundation of West Africa. The organisation has evolved into a reputable and credible national Non-Governmental Organisation with specialty in; Policy research and advocacy focusing on pro-poor policy and development programme monitoring in Ghana as well as  Service delivery through the promotion of livelihoods security.