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.
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:
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Strengthening democratic and decentralized governance
through civic involvement;
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Increasing the competitiveness of the Ghanaian
private sector in world markets;
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Improving health status; and
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Improving the quality of, and access to, basic
education.
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.
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.
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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