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General Overview

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The Ghana Vision of the U.S. Agency for International Development:
Empowering Ghanaians through Partnerships to Build a Prosperous Nation.





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Pineapple farmer holds with pride his harvest

Ghana is one of United States Government's most important partners in sub-Saharan Africa. It is the U.S. Government's third largest trading partner in West Africa and exercises a pivotal role in promoting political and economic stability. Ghana continues to enjoy a stable political environment despite increasing instability in the region.

United States national interests in Ghana parallel those of the government and people of Ghana. These interests include strengthening democracy, invigorating economic growth, and improving the lives of Ghanaians by enhancing the quality of education and health services delivery.

The U.S. Government's assistance enhances growth in Ghana's private sector, working jointly with the Government and private sector to improve the policy and regulatory environment, and working with private sector firms and business associations to increase production, improve marketing, strengthen the services of private sector business associations and promote tourism.

USAID/Ghana is providing technical assistance to the West African Gas Pipeline and a significant milestone has been achieved with the signing of a concession agreement by Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, the four neighboring West African countries involved in the project.

A health worker immunizing a child

In the country's health sector, USAID/Ghana has helped to make available quality health services to reach rural communities, and contributed to improvements in child health, family planning, and the control of the spread of infectious diseases.

The Mission's model for improving primary education in Ghana has met with enormous success. Children in USAID-supported Quality Improvements in Primary Schools (QUIPS) program, performed better than pupils in non-QUIPS schools in Mathematics and English tests.

The country's Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has been so much impressed with the performance of the program that it has adopted a number of activities of the program for a nation-wide initiative.

The democracy and governance program has also strengthened Parliament and enhanced the ability of civil society to influence policy decisions at both national and local levels.

The successes and lessons of the previous strategy have convinced USAID/Ghana to continue assistance in health, basic education, economic growth, and democratic governance in support of Ghana's poverty reduction efforts. USAID/Ghana's recently approved Country Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2004-2010 has established four main objectives:

  1. Strengthening democratic and decentralized governance through civic involvement;
  2. Increasing the competitiveness of the Ghanaian private sector in world markets;
  3. Improving health status; and
  4. Improving the quality of, and access to, basic education.
public meeting in Bolga
The new Democratic Governance Strategic Objective supports Ghana's efforts to create a democratic system which is more accountable and responsive to its citizens. It will enhance the responsiveness of key governance institutions to citizens by strengthening Parliament and supporting the decentralization plan of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

The Health Program aims to maintain and expand positive trends in Ghana's health status by empowering individuals and communities to adopt healthy behaviors, improve access to quality preventive and clinical health services, and strengthen health systems for sustainable impact.

The Health Program therefore promotes the integration of quality health services (child health, reproductive health, family planning, HIV/AIDS), effective behavior change communication, community-based service delivery and prevention through the CHPS initiative, social marketing, and involvement of the private sector for common goals.

A teacher assisting pupils

HIV/AIDS interventions will be targeted at groups at most risk and in high transmission areas where the largest impact can be expected.

To improve quality of and access to primary education, the new Basic Education Strategic Objective places emphasis on ensuring that Ghana's education system reaches an increased proportion of school-age children, particularly girls in the three northern regions in the country.

The strategy also continues to emphasize quality, with a greater focus on ensuring that Ghanaian children are able to read with understanding. In addition, the strategy builds on previous initiatives to increase teachers and youths' knowledge about HIV/AIDS in order to foster healthy behaviors.

A young lady displays vegetables

The new Economic Growth program focuses on increasing the competitiveness of Ghana's goods and services in world markets. Emphasis will be on creating an enabling policy and regulatory environment for the private sector and increasing the capacity of private sector firms to respond to export opportunities. This will contribute towards employment creation and increased incomes.

Another important focus of the strategy is improving food security in the three northern regions in Ghana. U.S. food aid resources are being utilized to increase higher crop yields and generate more income, enhance health and sanitation in rural communities, and provide quality education in primary schools. The food security activities are closely linked to the health, education, and economic growth programs, and form an integral part of the USAID/Ghana strategy.



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