The signing ceremony of the MOU between the United States Agency For International Development (USAID) and the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is a comprehensive development cooperation in Ghana. This is the first cooperative project between USAID and KOICA and is designed to improve maternal, newborn and child health care in the Volta Region.

IMCH is a four-year project initialized by KOICA in collaboration with USAID in an effort to help Ghana reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality by reinforcing maternal health intervention through the following three project objectives: (1) reinforce maternal and child health care system in Volta region, (2) increase births attended by skilled health personnel through capacity building of health personnel in the region and (3) reduce the maternal and infant mortality ratios by increasing awareness on the community level. This collaboration will complement USAID’s commitment to improve access and quality of family planning (FP), maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), nutrition, malaria prevention and treatment, and interventions to improve the management and performance of health systems that support these services.

Through this partnership, each agency will invest an estimated six million dollars in the Volta region over the next three years. KOICA seeks to improve several crucial points such as maternal health workers’ skills and capability, community awareness, maternal health institutions and the availability of medical equipment. USAID will support midwifery training programs and capacity building training to the midwifery school to be established by the KOICA program. The establishment of a midwifery school, with an improved preceptor manual, will ensure a skilled midwives supply, increasing the skilled-birth attendant ratio and accentuate a long-term vision of IMCH.