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Development Partners sign agreement to
help Ghana
Accra, March 1, GNA - The World Bank and 15 other
Development Partners (DP) on Thursday signed an agreement
that would ensure the establishment of a more effective aid
partnership between them and the Government of Ghana to
achieve the aims of the GPRS II and the Millennium
Development Goals in Ghana.
The agreement named: "Ghana's Joint Assistance Strategy
(G-JAS)", is the DP response on how they would work with the
Government to improve aid delivery, by moving towards a more
efficient 'division of labour' and allocation of DP
resources.
It is set to recognize the government of Ghana as the owner
and leader of the development process, ensure better
alignment of DP country strategies and spending plans in
relation to the GPRS II priorities and targets, as well as
reduce the transaction cost to government.
Mr Mats Karlsson, Country Director, World Bank who signed on
behalf of his institution said the agreement was aimed at
helping the DP 'do things better and be more responsive to
the needs of Ghana as a nation".
"By this we can map out our support for the achievement of
GPRS II".
"Our goal is to help you accelerate shared growth and make
poverty reduction a reality in this country," he told the
Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning, Nana Siriboe Juabeng, who witnessed the signing of
the agreement on behalf of the Government of Ghana.
Mr Karlsson said the agreement would help the DP eliminate
issues of duplication of resources towards a particular
project, as well as help the government build on its own
resources especially through the private sector as it
strives to attain the middle income status by 2015.
"We are keen to make sure that our monthly donor support is
sustained to ensure macro-economic growth," he said, adding
that donor support at the moment stood at about 1.3 billion
dollars a year.
The G-JAS partners include: the African Development Bank,
Canada, Denmark, the Department for International
Development (UK), the European Commission, France, Germany,
IFAD, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the
United States of America, United Nations and the World Bank.
The agreement was signed by the various Heads of Missions on
behalf of their Embassies and organizations.
Nana Siriboe Juabeng admitted that the new arrangement would
help minimize transaction cost with the DP.
"This would allow all our development partners to put their
weight behind the GPRS II," he said.
The G-JAS is expected to run for four years, beginning this
year 2007 till 2010, in line with the GPRS II cycle, with an
extra year to allow the Government of Ghana sufficient time
to develop GPRS III.
GNA
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