On July 25, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) on coordination of assistance in the health sector in the five northern provinces of Ghana (Upper West, Upper East, North East, Savannah and Northern). The MOU was signed in Akure, the capital city of Ghana. The signing took place in Accra, the capital of Ghana, between Ms. Momoko Suzuki, Director of JICA Ghana Office, Ms. Kimberly Rosen, Director of USAID Ghana Office, and Ms. Seungmin Oh, Director of KOICA Ghana Office. The ceremony was attended by the Ambassadors of the United States, Japan, and South Korea, as well as the Deputy Minister of Health of Ghana, and marked the first time that JICA, USAID, and KOICA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Scene of the signing ceremony
JICA, USAID, and KOICA have been cooperating to provide healthcare support to people in the five northern regions of Ghana, which are far from Accra, Ghana’s capital city, and have limited access to basic healthcare services and high poverty rates. The three parties have now decided to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to exchange information and make more effective use of their respective know-how and resources related to healthcare support in order to improve the healthcare situation in Ghana.
Through cooperation among the three parties, the project aims to promote primary health care (1) in the five northern regions of Ghana and contribute to the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (2), which is the goal of the Ghanaian government.
Through this partnership, JICA will achieve more impactful development results in JICA’s health sector cooperation and contribute to the achievement of SDG Goal 3 (health and well-being for all) and the realization of human security.
*1 Primary health care is a basic principle of the global health strategy adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the goal of “health for all”. This philosophy recognizes health as a fundamental human right for all people and is based on the proactive participation of the population and their right to self-determination. To this end, it is a methodology and approach that takes the local population as the main actors, responding to their most important needs and solving problems comprehensively and equally by the population itself.
*2 Universal health coverage is a state in which all people have access to all the quality health services they need, when they need them, where they need them, and without financial hardship. This covers the entire process of essential health services throughout life, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.
© Source JICA