USAID Program Overview
The United States and Ghana share a common goal: to generate prosperity and security for the people of Ghana and the American people. To this end, USAID and the Government of Ghana agreed in 2003 to work together in four key areas: increase employment opportunities and income levels for poor Ghanaians; improve delivery of health service at the community, district, and regional levels; increase the percentage of children completing basic education and improve the quality of instruction; and, strengthen the capacity of Ghana’s local governance institutions to plan for development, increase revenue, and seek input and respond to citizen needs concerning the delivery of services.
An increasing amount of resources are provided directly to the Government of Ghana for implementation of activities, as a part of using host country system.
GOVERNING JUSTLY AND DEMOCRATICALLY
USAID supports Ghana's efforts to consolidate democracy by strengthening civic participation in democratic processes and ensuring that local and national governments are responsive to the needs and interests of citizens. USAID activities build the capacity of citizens to participate more effectively in local government and strengthen the capacity of local governments to effectively budget and plan. Implemented in Ghana's Western Region, Local Government and Decentralization Program will improve service delivery at the local level, leading to better health, education and economic growth outcomes.
Ghana is a Feed the Future initiative country. USAID is committed to addressing the root causes of hunger that limit the potential of millions of people and to establishing a lasting foundation for change by aligning our resources with country-owned processes and sustained, multi-stakeholder partnerships. USAID programs increase the competitiveness of Ghana's private sector by improving the enabling environment for private sector development, modernizing the agricultural sector, and strengthening the private sector's capacity to produce quality agricultural and agro-processed products.
USAID empowers people and communities to adopt positive health practices, helps expand access to quality health services, and strengthens institutional capacity by working with the Ghanaian government to improve health care. The health program provides technical and financial resources to address family planning, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, nutrition, malaria, tuberculosis, and water and sanitation. USAID focuses its efforts to improve health system performance, particularly for financial and human resource management and quality improvement for maternal and child health and reproductive health, in Ghana’s three southern regions. Ghana is a focus of both the President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief and the Presidential Malaria Initiative.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE: EDUCATION
The goal of the US Government Basic Education program is to ensure that by 2016, two million Ghanaian children will demonstrate proficiency in reading at the completion of primary school. USAID activities include improving the quality of reading instruction; strengthening basic education delivery systems; and, improving accountability and transparency between parents, schools and local government
An emphasis on using country systems will enable USAID to help the Government of Ghana bring an increasing number of interventions to national scale.