Workshop On UNFPA Sixth Ghana Country Programme Held In Accra

The media has been urged to show results in helping meet the targets of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 (a&b) at the national level, under the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) Sixth Ghana Country Programme (CP 6). The UNFPA Country Representative in Ghana, Dr Bernard Coquelin, who made the call at a workshop for members of the Media and Communication Advocacy Network (MCAN) on the implementation of the CP6 in Accra, yesterday, therefore, pledged the UNFPA�s support for MCAN�s work. It was the first meeting of the sixth year of the Ghana Country Programme. Dr Coquelin noted that even though general reportage by the media was encouraging election violence, he was pleased with the performance of the two national newspapers�the Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times The Sixth Country Programme is aimed at catalyzing the achievement of targets of the MDG5 (a&b) at the national level; reduction in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and increasing access to reproductive health services within a context of a rights-based approach with focus on women and adolescent health. CP6 is to be implemented in 25 districts in five regions, namely the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions and be co-ordinated at the district, regional and central levels. Institutions that would be part of the co-ordination mechanism include the Ghana Health Service (GHS) as implementers of health services, Private Sector Partnership for Health Care Delivery, Ministry of Health, which is responsible for health policy and regulation and the National Youth Authority (NYA) which is responsible for the youth including adolescents. The others are the National Population Council (NPC), which will co-ordinate population-based programmes, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), which is responsible for overall national development co-ordination, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), which will manage the development process and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning which will co-ordinate development finance including Development Partners� support. In consonance with the decentralized development administration policy in Ghana, CP6 will be implemented at the district level by both government and non-government implementing agencies. The districts will be responsible to the regions for all activities undertaken for/in all communities in their jurisdiction through the sub-districts while the regions will in turn be responsible to the central government for all development activities in all the districts within the region. Meanwhile activities scheduled to be organised by the UNFPA during the year are the 2012 World Population Day on July 12, International AIDS Conference and the Regional Communication Experts Meeting�both in July, International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, launch of the State of the World�s Population Report in November and the launch of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA+10).