August 25, 2008

New Leadership Development Program in Ghana

In July 2008 the Ghana program, “Leading Together to Achieve Results,” was completed. Launched in January 2008, the program took place in the Central region of Ghana, a USAID focus area, to complement the HIRD initiative (High Impact Rapid Delivery). Seven teams (6 districts and the Regional Heath Directorate) participated in the program that was fully facilitated by local staff from the Ministry of Health and ADRA/Ghana. Two teams worked on the establishment of CHPS zones (Community-based Health Planning and Services) in two locations, complementing the efforts of a USAID bilateral project with a mandate of scaling up CHPS. The Regional Health Directorate team worked on improving family planning coverage in an underperforming district. All seven teams showed evidence of progress towards their desired results, many surpassing their targets. The teams also reported improved relationships between hospital and district health teams, and have all selected new challenges to face in the future.