The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) have held a joint signing ceremony of Grant Agreement for the “Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS)”.
This will be the 12th consecutive year that JICA is providing grant to Ghana for this project which began in 2012. The project aims to support human resource development in Ghana, targeting highly capable, young government officials who are expected to engage in formulating and implementing social and economic development plans and become leaders in the country.
From Japan’s experience of past development, JICA believes that human resource is the most important asset of the country and the driving force of development, hence the decision to support.
Just as it has done over the years, this latest programme would offer an opportunity for beneficiaries to learn about Japan’s modernisation and development experiences, which is unique and different from those of Western countries.
They will also learn about Japan’s contribution to the rapid development of Asian countries. While the Senior Vice-President of JICA, Ando Naoki, signed the grant agreement on behalf of his agency, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare, initialled the agreement for the ministry.
So far, 117 JDS fellows have been dispatched from Ghana to Japan under the project as of today, and 91 of these graduated with degrees. For this year, 13 participants will benefit by obtain their Masters and Doctorate degrees at prestigious Japanese universities in the area of Economics, Public Financial Management, Public Administration, Public Health and International Relations.