JICA marks 40 years in Ghana
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), as part of its bilateral cooperation with Ghana, has pledged its continuous support in building the human capacity of the country.
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Since the start of its programme in Ghana in 1976, the agency has so far trained about 3,500 Ghanaians in the sectors of health and medicine, education, tourism, gender mainstreaming and finance.
Other areas include agriculture, energy, road, sanitation, transportation, and audit.
JICA is the independent institution of the Government of Japan responsible for international cooperation and the development agenda of the country.
It aims to help reduce poverty and enhance the process of socio-economic development in poor and developing countries around the world.
It has its headquarters based in Tokyo and many of its overseas offices are located in different countries where it is actively working.
Mr Koji Makino is the chief representative of the agency in Ghana.
JICA’s 40th year of service
A statement issued by Mrs Rabi Ali Abaari, the Senior Programme Officer in charge of Training/Protocol, said JICA in 1963 started its first technical cooperation, and in 1976, it began its training for Ghanaians.
Over the years, Mr Abaari said, more than 310,000 people from 198 countries globally had travelled to Japan to undertake capacity-building training.
“The knowledge and expertise that participants acquire in Japan help to strengthen societies and economies, as well as improve the lives of individuals,” he said.
Other programmes
Apart from the competency-based training programme, Mrs Abaari said Japan also offered Master’s and PhD programmes.
She added, “JICA training believes in targeting future leaders who will play important roles in sustainable development and introduced the Young Leader’s Programme.”
Aside from training in Japan, JICA, the training officer said, had dispatched Ghanaians to Malaysia and Egypt to be trained in similar climatic conditions.
“JICA wants to bridge the gap between Ghana and Japan through the training programme, and to improve and strengthen the relationship between the two countries,” the training officer explained.