Call for Abstracts and Papers | Third Colloquium 2023 | Department of Political Science Education

Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic on 11th March, 2020, the world has changed significantly. Lockdowns of states and cities disrupted global supply chains and sent economic shockwaves throughout the global economy. Global economic growth plummeted with dire socio-economic implications for various regions of the world. The development of vaccines in the latter part of the year 2020 allowed states to contain and adapt to living with the virus. This development sparked hopes of global recovery from the impacts of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the road to recovery has been slow and complicated by the Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent economic sanctions by major Western countries.   

For many developing countries, particularly in Africa, the health costs of the pandemic in terms of hospitalizations and deaths appear to be negligible in comparison to socio-economic impacts. Declining growth fueled by lower commodity prices, increased government expenditure, hikes in oil prices and global inflationary pressures have driven many developing countries to the brink of debt and economic crisis.  These have complicated Post-Covid recovery efforts and made them more challenging. This situation threatens to erode the progress of the last few decades in poverty reduction, education and other major development gains.  

Ghana epitomizes the precarious state of many developing economies and the difficult choices that have to be made in building new structures and institutions that can support robust and resilient development, capable of dealing with current challenges and withstanding future global shocks.  Ghana is currently in economic crisis with soaring inflation, unsustainable public debt, rising unemployment and slow growth. The country is locked out of the international capital market due to its public debt situation. It has defaulted on the payment of its external debt and payment of domestic coupons have been erratic, leading to protests by pensioners and other affected groups. Efforts at reaching an agreement with the IMF for an economic bailout necessitated various austerity measures including imposition of new taxes, hiking of utility rates and cuts to public expenditures. A Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP) occasioned by the IMF bailout has seen several domestic investors taking cuts to their investments, leading some banks to declare loses for the first time since 1993.

While Covid-19 has brought many challenges, it has also ignited the need for innovation in public sector management, policy making and implementation and global engagements. It necessitated new ways of thinking about old problems. In the specific case of Ghana, it reignited the debate of building a self-reliant and resilient society with viable opportunities for all.  What lessons can be learned from the impacts of Covid-19 in building a nation that can withstand future global shocks?  

This Colloquium seeks to bring together scholars from various fields to discuss the options of building a resilient and self-reliant nation, capable of withstanding global shocks such as the pandemic. The Colloquium is interested in papers that challenge conventional knowledge and bring new thinking to addressing hydra-headed issues that undergird the building of resilient societies. We welcome original papers that are policy relevant and theoretically grounded. The main themes to be considered include (but not limited to) the following:

1. New Thinking in Public Sector Management and Reforms
2. Good Governance, Democracy and Ghana’s Recovery
3. Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development
4. Education and Social Inclusion
5.  Post-Covid Tertiary Education
6. Building Resilient Systems against Global Shocks  
7. Food Security, Poverty and Livelihoods
8. Migration, Regional Integration and Security
9. Public Health Management
10. Digital Transformation and Governance

Abstracts and manuscripts on the various themes for submission must necessarily be linked to the main theme for the Colloquium - Politics Amidst Global Uncertainties: Options for Building a Resilient Society.

Submission Details:

• Abstracts must not be more than 250 words, with 5 keywords. Names and institutions of all authors must be provided.
• The details of the corresponding author must be clearly stated (name, department and institution of affiliation and email address).
• Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31st July 2023
• Date for response to abstract submissions: On rolling basis
• Proposed date for the Colloquium: November 2023
• Proposed Venue for the Colloquium: Students Centre, North Campus of UEW, Winneba, Ghana.

All submissions and queries must be sent to:

The Chairperson, Seminars and Conferences Committee, Department of Political Science Education, UEW at tpbotchway@uew.edu.gh  OR

The PRO, Seminars and Conferences Committee, Department of Political Science Education, UEW at gasekere@uew.edu.gh