The four days of FACT

The workshop was attended by 30 people from 17 cooperatives affiliated to the Federation. Former employee Habiba Nyarko Agyemang facilitated this training.

During the four days of the workshop, Federation members familiarised themselves with the FACT tool and concept through presentations and discussions, followed by group work.

For most of the participants, the FACT workshop came "at the right time", given the challenges facing the federation. Indeed, one of the FNFPCC's missions is to advocate and lobby to improve its members' living and working conditions. It therefore needed its skills to be strengthened in this area.

According to Ms N'GORAN, Chairman of the FNFPCC, the leaders of the federation and the cooperatives have always consulted their members to assess their needs. However, the FACT approach will enable them to consult members differently and, above all, obtain a real commitment from them towards the federation and the grassroots cooperatives, and in the decision-making process. In this sense, "the FACT approach makes it easier for board members to manage their day-to-day work".

Following on from the chairman, Ms SEMI Lou Emilienne, a member of the FNFPCC supervisory board, said she was very pleased to have taken part in the workshop. According to her, "Most of what we do is advocacy, without any in-depth analysis of the problems or expert advice". But now, our lobbying and advocacy proposals will be backed up by evidence, real data, and figures to support our proposals.

At the end of the workshop, in addition to the FNFPCC, two member cooperatives decided to implement this approach in order to solve the road and drinking water problems faced by their members. In all, 3 action plans were drawn up. The next step will be for the members to validate the lobbying and advocacy issues identified and implement the action plans.