Ghana receives €15.6m EU funds for MDGs and budget support

Ghana has received an amount of €15,650,000 from the European Union (EU) to help the country in the course of attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ends 2015.

The funds comprise of a €10 million Sector Budget Support for Ghana’s Ministry of Health and €5.65 million General Budget Support under Ghana’s Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS ) framework, the Delegation of the European Union to Ghana announced today January 8, 2013.

According to the EU, the €10 million will support the implementation of the MDG Accelerated Framework and Country Action Plan developed to combat maternal mortality.

It adds “the funds will support improvements in skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric and newborn care as well as family planning measures.”

The EU expects that with “this additional funding, Ghana will be able to reduce the unacceptable high burden of mothers dying while giving birth and arrive at 185 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015 (MDG5 Goal).”

For the €5.65 million, the EU indicated it is to complement the Ghana government’s own domestically generated revenues and to facilitate the implementation of the national budget and its associated public expenditure plans to sustainably reduce poverty.

By Ekow Quandzie