United States Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson, launched the “Promoting Transparency and Accountability in Education” activity at the Northern Network for Education Development (NNED) headquarters in Tamale, Ghana on April 1, 2016. At the event, Ambassador Jackson and NNED Executive Committee Chair Rosemond Kumah signed a cooperative agreement for the 18-month, $648,000 USAID activity, which will be implemented by NNED.

Through the activity, USAID will support NNED’s continuing efforts to promote greater accountability, focusing on 200 schools in 25 districts in northern Ghana. NNED is a Ghanaian non-governmental organization, which works to increase the quality of and access to education in northern Ghana through advocacy, resource mobilization, and harmonization of stakeholder efforts. NNED will draw on its large networks of educational stakeholders to facilitate greater involvement by civil society organizations and community members in the management of educational resources and to provide support and promote further accountability of 250 Ghana Education Service district managers in northern Ghana.

“NNED is a critical partner for us in our efforts here in the north,” said Ambassador Jackson at the launch. “With NNED’s extensive networks and considerable experience working to improve education here in northern Ghana, I am confident we will make great gains in ensuring every child in even the most remote villages receives the education they deserve.”

The goal of USAID/Ghana’s education program is to ensure that children are given the foundational skills to read with understanding in the early grades of primary school. USAID’s activities in Ghana improve the quality of reading instruction, strengthen the management of educational institutions, improve accountability and transparency between parents, schools and local government, and help communities contribute to student and teacher performance.

About USAID

USAID is the lead U.S. government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. For more than 50 years, USAID has supported Ghana in increasing food security, improving basic health care, enhancing access to quality basic education, and strengthening local governance to benefit all Ghanaian people.