Franklin Yayra Adorsu-Djentuh
Franklin, from Ghana, was a postgraduate researcher in Development Policy and Management. His thesis title was "Implementation Of Environmental Sanitation Policies: Assessing the Role of Local Actors in Ghana".
Very sadly Franklin passed away suddenly in May 2021. He is greatly missed by the whole GDI community.
On my background
I am passionate about governance and development, especially in the global south.
This passion propelled me to establish two non-governmental organisations called Icon of Hope International and Reading Ghanaians. Icon of Hope international is aimed at improving basic education in rural Ghana and initiating community development programmes, while Reading Ghanaians aims to establish reading clubs in Ghanaian schools.
To satisfy my desires and to establish myself in my area of interest, I began researching activities in the field of development. After completing my postgraduate degree in Public Administration in Ghana, I decided to enrol on the PhD programme at The University of Manchester.
On my research
My research focuses on actors’ relations in the implementation of environmental policies at the local level. The research context is situated in my home country of Ghana because the effective delivery of environmental sanitation services remains one of the major challenges facing the municipal government.
According to extant literature, the dysfunctional environmental sanitation system in Ghana can be linked to inadequate financing of the sector, lack of infrastructural capacity and appropriate technology in managing sanitation, and lack of political will to deal with sanitation.
However, research on actor relations has received very little attention.
I posit that, in order to understand the lack of progress in sanitation, research needs to move beyond the structural dimension to deeper levels to interrogate formal and informal relations that exist between actors, the context within which such relations exist and how relations affect the policy implementation process.
On my motivation
I discovered that the Global Development Institute (GDI) was one of the top three development institutes in the world.
Going through the Institute's profile, I realised that some of the best academics in the field of development emanate from the institution.
Coupled with this, I had good testimonies from my professors at the University of Ghana who studied here. This gave me the assurance that there is no better place to study development than the Global Development Institute.
I might even say that my expectations have been exceeded so far. I've had an excellent supervisory team, received help from colleagues, and blended well within the vastly diverse environment with a lot of resources at my disposal.
On my aspirations
I want to contribute and be part of the solution to many of the nagging developmental challenges in the global south.
This will involve engaging government and those with a wider policy interest in the sanitation sector to reflect on the approaches of solving sanitation challenges through actor networks, relationships and partnerships.