Accra, March 30, GNA - Professor Cletus Dordunoo, Chief Executive Officer of ClayDord Consultancy Services on Tuesday said statistics nationwide showed a reduction in the poverty situation even though the Central and Upper East regions showed an increase.

He said though 1991/92 to 1998/99 showed an increase, the situation had improved considerably, adding that though statistics for 2004 are not available, the Ghana Statistical Service would organize a Living Standard Survey to throw more light on the current situation.

Professor Dordunoo was speaking at a Stakeholders workshop on Enhancing Capacity For Pro-Poor Decentralisation Project to come out with recommendations to enhance policy-making. It was organized by CalyDord Consultancy Services and sponsored by the Government of Ghana, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

Presenting a draft preliminary findings on the Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) study on Resource Allocation, Mobilization, Management and Capacity Building at the District level, Professor Dordunoo said there should be an increase from the five per cent to 7.5 percent of the District Assemblies Common Fund. He said this increase could be used for pro-poor projects and self-help promotion of communities.

He said the problem of institutional dilemma, that is institutional scenario reflecting the actual situation, must be addressed through adherence to the most desirable situation since the programme was pro-poor. Mr. Ebenezer E.O. Odotei, Deputy Director of the NDPC said the workshop was to enhance further poverty profiling to come out with empirical understanding for the policy making process. He said multi-donor support called for concrete findings and recommendations, adding that this should reflect how decentralization could affect poverty reduction and economic growth.