An Analysis of Maritime Policies in Ghana


 An analysis of maritime transport policies in Ghana was conducted in this study. The objectives were to establish the existence or otherwise of maritime policy, the degree of its effectiveness and its impact on the maritime industry in particular and the nation as a whole, identify the challenges affecting the successful implementation of maritime policies in Ghana, and suggest measures for effective implementation of Ghana's maritime policies. The study was conducted in the port communities of Tema and Takoradi. It employed a descriptive research design and the instruments used were interviews and questionnaires. The study focused on maritime policies enacted since Ghana’s independence. The findings of the study indicate that although there is no single document as a maritime policy, there are forms of policies. These policies are described largely as ineffective having such impacts as loss of revenue to the state, pollution of the marine environment and a high cost of doing business through Ghana's ports. Some of the challenges impeding the successful realization of expected results from maritime policies in Ghana include inadequate training, insufficient resources and a low level educational background. Some of the measures for addressing these challenges include establishment of an intergrated maritime policy, education of merchants in maritime-related trade, provision of additional resources and training of personnel involved with functions guided by Ghana's maritime policies.


Introduction
de ned policy as a purposive and consistent course of action produced in response to a perceived problem of a constituency, formulated by a speci c political process, and adopted, implemented, and enforced by a public agency. A policy is also a set of ideas, proposals and principles for action, culminating into decision making (Jones and Norton, 2010).
The maritime industry, whether commercial or private sector, has been very useful, providing services related to economic activities which have engaged humans throughout history with the help of deliberate guidelines. Hitherto, harmonization of marine transportation in world trade is an integral part of the globalized economy and thus comprises specialized vessels, the ports they visit, and transport infrastructure from factories to terminals to distribution centres and markets, which have all evolved with international policy directives. For many commodities and trade routes, there is no direct substitute for waterborne commerce as the case of the transportation of oil requires, for instance.
Ghana's maritime industry, however, dates back to the 1920s with the opening of Takoradi port and subsequently, the port of Tema in 1962. Hilling (1966), described the ports as part of a larger transport scheme in aid of development and industrialization. After the year 2010, there has been a net of offshore oil exploration elds. These include Jubilee, TEN, and Sankofa who commenced production of oil & gas within the Cape 3 Point enclave, beside the platter of discoveries of other exploratory sites currently ongoing. There are also billions of dollars in port infrastructural expansion works and gas processing infrastructure ongoing. Thus, herewith makes the case of the maritime industry integral to the Ghanaian economy. Thus, any failures in terms of structures in place to regulate safety and security, tend to bring the industry to catastrophic collapse and leaving billions in dollars of losses in investments. For there to be an effective collaboration of all the various actors enjoined in Ghana's maritime industry, their essence of a deliberate attempt to orchestrate such harmony cannot be overemphasised. Indeed, such an attempt is what is termed the maritime 'policy' framework. A lack of or ineffectiveness of it can be detrimental to organizations and states.
The study, therefore, aims to objectively examine Ghana's maritime policies and their implementation in order to come up with the appropriate recommendations. Speci cally, this will be accomplished by; examining the existence or otherwise of maritime policy, establishing the degree of effectiveness of the existing maritime policies; establishing the impact of ineffective maritime policies; identifying the challenges facing the successful implementation; and ascertaining measures for effective implementation of the maritime policies.
This study is expected to help the maritime community by providing knowledge about the various policies while highlighting the suggestions and observations made by stakeholders, in terms of its formulation, implementation challenges and how such policies impact their daily operations. It will also emphasize measures necessary for effective implementation to ensure sustainable development. The study is developed in an exploratory manner, where qualitative and quantitative data concerning policies from various organizations and stakeholders like the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Ghana Shippers' Council (GSC), Shipping Agencies, Free Zone Companies, Shippers, Representatives of the landlocked countries, Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority (GPHA), among others, are utilized.

Review
Ghana is a signatory to the 1982 United Nation's Convention on The Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 82) and has laid claim to all zones in its Maritime domain: Internal waters, Territorial waters, Contiguous Zone, and the exclusive economic zone.

Overview of Major Maritime Policies in Ghana
Existing policies formulated in Ghana in an attempt to ensure proper management of the maritime industry and maritime related activities include; The GMA Act (2002) (Act 630) which is the policy framework establishing the maritime administrative function for shipping and navigation at the seaport in ful lment of Act 183; the Ghana Shipping Act (GSA) (2003), Act 645 (formerly Merchant Shipping Act (MSA), 1963 (Act 183)) refers to policy for implementing the task of national ship registry, maritime services, ship survey & inspection, inland water ways, wreck and salvage operations; the PNDC Law 160 (GPHA) thus policy direction proclaiming the GPHA as a statutory body mandated to build, mange, operate & control the seaports; the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (Management) Act 1993 (Formerly PNDC Law 330), the framework establishing procedures for the collection of all taxes, duties and levies from the port entry and exit, while protecting revenue, territorial integrity and supervising restrictions on import and exports; the Fisheries Act, 2002 (Act 625) which enforces regulations on shing within the coastal boundaries; the Ghana Shippers Council Act 1974 (NRCD 254); (now Ghana Shippers' Authority Act 562 of l998); the Ghana Maritime Security (Amendment) Act, 2011 (Act 824) supported by Shipping (Protection of Offshore Operations and Assets) Regulations 2011, as an amended, 2012, established protection for offshore installation; the Marine Pollution Act (Act 932) passed in 2016allowing for the formulation of National Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
The list shows there has been some effort made but these seem to be policies that are reactions to short term challenges. What is needed is the creation of a comprehensive framework that would ensure a seamless network and e ciency among all institutions and organs of trade and transport (Mbiah, 2018). A decision must be made as to whether the policy must be integrated or sectorial.

The Process of Policy Implementation
Many factors comprise and in uence the process of implementation of public policies. Academic researchers have analysed the process through varying de nitions of implementation, descriptions of implementation styles and structures, the roles of implementing actors, and ways of evaluating them. Scholars view policy implementation as a process-decisions and actions that put a legislative decision into effect. Thus, the policy implementation process can be seen as a social action designed to effect a 'change,' a marginal solution to an observed problem in the government (OECD, 2017). New public policies often take a long time to become an established routine (Kiviniemi, 1986).
Implementation is generally hierarchical, with in uences owing downward through the hierarchical levels via a chain of delegation to the service delivery level (Robichau &Lynn, 2009). Robichau and Lynn (2009) argue that because most public policy theories fail to conceptualize the distinct differences between policy outputs and policy outcomes, they "slight the administrative processes that constitute implementation". Thus, implementation is viewed as "the missing link in the study of public policy" (Robichau & Lynn, 2009). Terpestra and Havinga (2001) applied two perspectives in studies of policy implementation: a focus on strategic action and a focus on institutional analysis. The focus on strategic action primarily considers how individual implementation agents actively use rules and resources in their daily work to implement policy. The focus on institutional analysis primarily pays attention to the institutions in which the implementation process is organized. Terpestra and Havinga (2001) noted that the rst approach is "strong on action and outcome of the practices that make up that system. There are several accepted policy implementation styles. Traditional policy implementation is based on tradition and traditional authority occurring in small, strongly hierarchical organizations within local communities, with a limited number of formal rules which are often not very detailed in character. The traditional implementation style is associated with paternalism and "authoritarian and moralizing patronization" and brings with it a strong risk of arbitrariness. "A classic bureaucratic implementation understanding is that government policy and decisions are transformed into practice via careful legislative processes and fostered incisive communication to relevant stakeholders. Public sector executives have realised therefore that implementation requires the complex transformation of decisions into practice. Bureaucratic policy implementation came into being in part as a response to problems caused by the traditional implementation. However, with this style, comes the risk of increased rigidity, red tape, bureaucratic delay, and less ability to help implement the policy that t the situation of individual citizens or companies? Unlike the bureaucratic style, the professional style does not view the application of formal rules as the main task and instead views the achievement of goals as more important (Ejler et al., 2016).
The rules that implementation o cers apply are derived from the structure of the policy implementation system. These structural properties are the central dimension of what Giddens calls the "duality of structure" (Giddens, 1979). The structure and actions of implementation o cers are connected through these structural properties; they draw upon these structural properties, while simultaneously making them manifest. The heart of the implementation process is the relationship between governmental actors and non-governmental actors. Policy implementation research shows that governmental actors are generally regarded as subjects and non-governmental actors as objects (Kiviniemi, 1986). Both groups are inherently capable because they do not simply react to their circumstances; they have the power to intervene in their environment. The implementing actors often use discursive, re exive knowledge that is only "mobilized at the moment they have to account for their actions," using their knowledge of legal concepts, formal rules, and policy categories (Terpestra & Havinga, 2001). In each of these relationships ", the most important (counter-) power of the implementation o cer is the maintenance and strategic use of autonomy" (Terpestra & Havinga, 2001). The reality of implementation, be an action leading to changes (OECD, 2017). It is a complex structure of interactions in which "the outside world necessarily interferes with implementation, because governmental action is designed to impinge upon it and where implementing actors are inherently di cult to control" (Kiviniemi, 1986). The struggle about political ends and means of policy implementation is continuous.

Policy Evaluation Process
Implementation and evaluation primarily consider "the timely and satisfactory performance of necessary tasks related to carrying out the intent of the law" (Lester et al., 1987). Evaluation of success and failure of implementation process considers the extent to which program goals have been met and how much measurable change in the larger problem was addressed. The consequences of policy programs are determined by describing their impact, or by looking at whether they have succeeded or failed according to a set of established standards. Several evaluation perspectives, according to Theodoulou and Ko nis (2004) include the assessment of whether a set of activities implemented under a speci c policy have achieved a given set of objectives. Four types of Policy Evaluation, namely Process Evaluation, Outcome Evaluation, Impact Evaluation and Cost-bene t evaluation have been speci ed by Theodoulou and Ko nis (2004). However, the one which is of interest to the study is the impact evaluation more commonly perceived as a policy evaluation. The objective of this type of evaluation was to determine whether or not a given public policy or program was achieving the intended purpose as visualized by the various policy actors who either supported or opposed the given policy. There are essentially three options of policy evaluation outcomes: Maintain the status quo if the policy was working as planned; Make adjustments to the policy; or the most drastic, and rare, change of all was to; and terminate the program or repeal the policy.

Challenges of Policy Implementation
According to Elmore (1978), failures of implementation are by de nition, lapses of planning, speci cation and control . Fullan, (2015) noted that the discrepancies between policy and implementation are largely caused by unrealistic policies and a lack of managerial expertise. These ndings hurt successful service delivery. Theodoulou and Ko nis (2004) identi ed the major challenges and pitfalls which can routinely impede the effective execution of public policies as; a) Clarity of Policy Goals: Clear policy goals help to specify the ends or objectives from the policy action as well as the basis by which policies could be evaluated for accountability, e ciency and effectiveness. b) Information Intelligence: Another factor was the strategic necessity for constant feedback as to how the implementation of the policy was progressing and its impact on the bene ciaries. It was important to gauge the degree of interagency and intergovernmental cooperation and con ict which may be affecting the implementation of policy which required a high level of communication and feedback from both the agency involved and the population affected by the policy action. c) Strategic Planning: The purpose was to highlight the importance of assessing the capacity of an agency to meet speci c implementation tasks with planning towards execution. Sakyi et al (2011) also listed the following as the barriers to policy implementation in Ghana: inadequate funds, lack of quali ed personnel, inadequate logistics and equipment, poor interpersonal relationships, lack of transparency and a good operational system, lack of incentives to motivate the staff, political interference, poor infrastructure and high rate of illiteracy. Brynard (2005) in reviewing the literature on domestic policy implementation, identi ed critical explanatory variables that short-change the understanding of the implementation processes on a variety of issues and in various localities. He listed content, context, commitment, capacity, clients and coalitions, as well as communication as being the driving variables.

Effective Implementation of Public Policy
On the matter of Content: Lowi (1963), characterized the policy as distributive, regulatory, or redistributive. Distributive policies create public goods for the general welfare and are non-zero-sum in character. Regulatory policies specify rules of conduct with sanctions for failure to comply. Redistributive policies attempt to change the allocations of wealth or power of some groups at the expense of others. These classi cations have been found useful by a wide variety of implementation scholars such as Smith, (1973); Van Meter, and Van Horn (1975) ;Hargrove, (1975). A more elaborate understanding of the criticality of policy content was exempli ed by Pressman and Wildavsky, (1973;1984).
In terms of Context, the focus here is on the institutional context which like the other four variables will necessarily be shaped by the larger context of social, economic, political and legal realities of the system. It is fairly common wisdom to scholars that "a context-free theory of implementation is unlikely to produce powerful explanations or accurate predictions" (H. Ingram, 1980). O'Toole, (1986) therefore noted that "the eld of implementation has yet to address, as part of its research strategy, the challenge of conceptuality, beyond fairly empty injunctions for policymakers, implementers, and researchers to pay attention to social, economic, political, and legal setting." The issue of Commitment, however, had to do with agencies responsible for carrying out the implementation. Governments may have the most logical policy imaginable, the policy may pass costbene t analyses with honours, but if those responsible for carrying it out are unwilling or unable to do so, little will happen (Warwick, 1982). Commitment is in uenced much more by the institutional context, and clients and coalitions (Lipsky, 1980). Regarding clients and coalitions (i.e., the importance of government joining coalitions of interest groups, opinion leaders, and other outside actors who actively support a particular implementation process), Elmore (1979);Dimmock & Walker, (2004) considers the nding that the formation of local coalitions of individuals affected by the policy affected implementation in some "critical sense", to be the "most robust" nding of implementation research. The political, administrative, economic, technological, cultural and social environments within which action is taken must also be sympathetic or conducive to successful implementation (Grindle, 1980). With the discussions above, effective communication is critical amongst all variables for implementation. Elmore, (1979); Dimmock & Walker, (2004) therefore identi ed some factors for effective communication towards implementation of policy which includes: Speci ed tasks and objectives that accurately re ect the intent of the policy; A management plan that allocates tasks and performance standards to subunits; An objective means of measuring subunit performance; and; A system of management controls and social sanctions su cient to hold subordinates accountable for their performance. In conclusion, according to Matland (1995), successful implementation of policies would require compliance with statutes, directives and goals to meet speci c performance indicators. Improvement in the political climate around a program is also fundamental.

Methodology
It covers the population and population sample, the research design, and the instrument used to collect the data including methods implemented to maintain validity and reliability. Qualitative and quantitative data used gave what is known in social research as mixed methods (Kwabia, 2010). Taking into consideration the purpose of this research, the qualitative approach chosen is sensitive and powerful in capturing people's experiences.

Research Design
The descriptive design used for the research had three main methods: observational, case-study and survey methods based on Kwabia's (2010) assumptions. Thus, the behaviour of the participants is closely observed through naturalistic means. On the other hand, in-depth Case study often led to testable hypotheses and allow us to study rare phenomena. The use of a survey in the research help with the analysis of answers given by participants administered through interviews or questionnaires. The survey is used to collect original data for describing a population too large to observe directly (Mouton, 1996;2001).

The Study Area
The Study Area chosen for the research is within the working port communities of Tema and Takoradi shown in Fig 1 & 2 respectively, courtesy of Google Earth (2019). These locations are because maritime activities in Ghana are concentrated here and any policy that is initiated is felt strongly by the stakeholders who form the communities. The port of Takoradi, Ghana's premier port was opened in 1928. Takoradi, the Regional capital of the Western Region of Ghana is about midway between the Ports of Tema and Abidjan. It is about four hours' drive from Accra, the capital city of Ghana. The Port is well connected to its hinterland which makes it the preferred and ideal gateway to the middle and northern part of Ghana and the Sahelian countries of, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. The Port is serviced by leading shipping lines/companies such as Maersk Lines, Intermodal Shipping agency and Mediterranean Shipping Company among others. There are also clearing and forwarding companies at the Port. Annually, the Port handles over 600 vessels, 37% of total national seaborne tra c, 62% national exports, and 20% of total national imports.
The main exports include Manganese, Bauxite, Cocoa and Forest products while the key imports are Clinker, Containerized cargo. Oil products and Wheat. In recent years Takoradi has been handling large volumes of transit cargo for Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Many transit operators have found the Takoradi corridor fast and cost-effective and thus prefer to use this corridor. The port of Tema which is the bigger of the two seaports of Ghana is located on the east coast of Ghana, about 21 nautical miles off the northeast coast of the capital city, Accra. It spans a land area of 3.9 million square metres and is anked by an industrial city. Within the port's environs are Inland Clearance Depots (ICDs), Warehouses, Transport and haulage companies and related service centres. (GPHA, 2013).

The Target Population
Page 9/22 The population chosen for this research are the directors and staff of GMA and Stakeholders of the maritime industry as shown in Table 1 below, who feel the direct effects of maritime policies; i.e., GPHA, Shipping Lines, Ship Crew, Ship Agencies, Freight Forwarders, Shippers Council, Stevedoring Companies, Oil eld Operators and Service providers, and nally customs, excise and preventive service.

Sampling Technique and Sample
A sample is a part of a group or aggregate of entire objects selected to obtain information about a whole (Mcgreal, Kinutha, Marshall, and Macnamara, 2013). Henceforth, the entire population was sampled to represent the whole population. The purposive or judgmental with Quota sampling method was used. The purposive sampling used is because of the chosen elements of research. Quota sampling is also because of time limitations. The population sample chosen is therefore shown in Table 1.

Data Analysis
Analysis of the study made use of graphical presentations, tabular extrapolations of gures and composed observations in the eld. Some of the elements in the targeted population could not make time to respond. There were also issues of time constraint and some questionnaires were never returned by participants.

Findings And Discussions
This section of the study deals with the presentation, analysis and discussion of the various ndings obtained during the study.
Ghana's maritime domain can be said to play four critical roles largely: shelters operation of ships whose trade routes traverse the West African sub-region; serves as an import and export hub for the non-coastal neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, etc.; supplements food resources of the nation; and supports energy needs and industry. These roles among others call for a Maritime policy that will ensure proper management of the industry. The currently available policies seem to be reactions to short term challenges as stated earlier. The respondents alluded to these policies.

Rate of Response
A total of 120 respondents were chosen and given questionnaires to respond to. Out of this number, 104 responded and returned the questionnaires administered to them. This represents a response rate of 86%.
The distribution of respondents of the various elements in the targeted population is shown in Table 2. Oil eld Operators and service provider 10 10 Cargo owners 10 10 Stevedoring companies 10 6 Customs, Excise And Preventive Service 10 9 Shippers council 15 12 Vessel crew 10 10 Total 120 104 The respondents were made to indicate their; (i) respective levels of education to determine whether they could read and understand the information on the questionnaire, (ii) years of experience, and (iii) awareness of Maritime Policies in Ghana. Their responses are shown in Fig 3, 4 and 5 respectively.

Level of Education
Their response to the question on the level of education as indicated in Fig 3, implied the majority of the respondents had reasonable levels of education to be able to read and understand the various questions in the questionnaire.
This was useful in the assessment of whether they were aware of any maritime policies, how they viewed any such policies, and whether they nd them useful or not.

The Degree of Experience and Awareness of Maritime Policies in Ghana
Their responses regarding the number of years of experience as shown in Fig 4 indicates, a majority of the respondents had spent a good amount of time in the industry culminating into over 1,345 years average time (see Table 3) and therefore had enough exposure to make their responses reliable.  working years rising through the ranks within the maritime and shipping industry. This was signi cant to their basic understanding of operations and how it related to policy decisions and guidelines. Therefore, when further probes of their awareness of maritime policies were sort (see Fig 5), 86 per cent responded to the a rmative for which they were asked to list a few off-head (see Fig 6). Only 14 per cent said they had no idea prompting the researchers to mention a few notable ones. Regardless, they were all asked to evaluate those policies based on their experiences working in the eld. This is detailed in the next section.

The effectiveness of Maritime Policies (MPs) in Ghana and the Impact on Stakeholders
The respondents were made to indicate their opinion on the level of effectiveness of the various maritime policies in Ghana and their impact on their businesses, as stakeholders. The respondents contested the policies on grounds of effectiveness or ineffectiveness as indicated in Fig 7. 80 per cent indicated the policies were ineffective, suggesting the processes at state agencies were riddled with corruption where time was of urgency. Others suggested too many bureaucratic processes as making the policies a nuisance rather than aiding and improving the business climate.
Concerning the impact the ineffective policies have on Ghana, their response is shown in Fig 8 and stood out as a challenge. According to a majority of the respondent, the maritime and shipping industry is a fast-paced environment where trade waits for no one, therefore, loss of trade ranked the highest, suggesting the high bureaucratic processes led to the delays and loss of business opportunities, notwithstanding turnover time across industrialized nations were relatively short and healthy for businesses there, they traded with. 4.5 Challenges Affecting the Effective Implementation of MPs in Ghana.
In terms of challenges impeding the effective implementation of maritime policies in Ghana, the results obtained (seen in Fig 9) indicate that a lack of political will and inadequate resources stood out with 90 and 86 percentage responses.
Some respondent suggested politicians were mostly reluctant at ensuring the implementation of policies because they were afraid of the backlash during the proceeding political season when they may need every electoral vote to stay in power. To them, this hampers on general progress and the business climate as a whole and called for sel ess leaders and leadership style.

The signi cance of Effective Policies
The views of the respondents on the signi cance of effective maritime policies (shown in Fig 10) indicate an increase in revenue and the creation of jobs as major bene ts among others the country stands to bene t from.
They explained that a good maritime business climate has a direct impact on all other business industry.
Hence, such conditions resulting in a good turnaround time, only inspires con dence investors to expand their business portfolio, allows local business to reach out into forming JVs (joint ventures) with foreign companies and partners resulting revenue growth.

Measures to Improve Effectiveness
Concerning the measures for improving the effectiveness of maritime policies, the Respondents recognized the willingness of the Government to implement policies as the most important factor. Other measures of reasonable importance indicated were the education of the general public on maritime policies (sensitization), provision of resources to implementing agencies and periodic evaluation of implemented policies (see Fig 11).
According to the respondents, addressing the issues of concern, there will be a need for an e cient business operation by stakeholders (particularly of the state agency charged with such responsibilities) to the bene t of national trade, thus portraying the nation as investor-friendly is consequential and therefore, an ultimate reversal the initial consequences of the ineffectiveness in general.

Conclusions And Recommendations
The existence or otherwise of a maritime policy mentioned above and its effectiveness or ineffectiveness were studied by surveying stakeholders. The consequences of the non-functionality included loss of maritime trade to neighbouring ports particularly the ports in Ivory Coast. Others include the high cost of doing business in Ghana, regular occurrence of pollution in port facilities and at sea, illegal and improperly regulated shing activities by both local and foreign shermen, cumbersome bureaucratic processes creating delays and excess charges, and technological challenges with container scanners, the GCNET system and many more. The ineffectiveness of implementation of policies was, however, attributed to lack of political will, lack of clear national policy direction, poor interpretation of policies, inadequate resources, poor coordination among agencies, lack of harmonization of institutional procedures, inadequate training and motivation, as well as improper monitoring and evaluation. This should ultimately lead to an integrated maritime policy if a proper harmonization is carried out.
Recommendations based on the ndings are; 1. The commitment of the Government to Maritime Policies: Maritime policies will be effective only if governments are fully committed to them. Thus, until governments commit themselves fully in a nonpartisan manner, many of the maritime policies will continue to exist within our statute books, unenforced.
2. Clear De nition of Roles: Clearly de ned roles and responsibilities of the various agencies will avoid overlaps and con icts leading to failures in policy implementation.
3. Accountability of Personnel: Control systems for monitoring and evaluation must be devised to ensure strict accountability and transparency. Punitive measures must be instituted to check avoidable failures and negligent acts on their part. In the same vein, the personnel must be properly motivated. Where political appointees may need to handle responsibilities, such persons will need to apply a national orientation rather than party interest and orientation.
4. Hefty nes for non-compliance with Regulations: Heavy penalties for outing established regulations are capable of deterring offenders. Fines for non-compliance should be very heavy, to the extent of total closure of business, imprisonment. To apply such nes, culprits must be apprehended. This is achieved through proper monitoring. With such a measure, people will count the cost before they act.
5. Involvement of Experts and Stakeholders: As Mbiah (2018) explained, for a successful and sustainable industry, there will be a need for a comprehensive framework that would ensure a seamless network and e ciency among all institutions, organs of trade and the transport industry created for the longer-term bene t, instead of policies that are reactionary to short term challenges. Policy formulation to be drafted and implemented should, therefore, engage experts' knowledge as well as stakeholder views and not political thinkers, as this may go a long way to synchronize the policies into user-friendly instruments.  Signi cance of Effective Policies Figure 10 Measures for improving effectiveness