25 years anniversary celebrations in Ghana

Danida Alumni Network Ghana celebrates Danida Fellowship Centre’s 25th anniversary with milestone events in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale.

By Seth Kwabena Amponsah, secretary of the Danida Alumni Network in Ghana

Many Ghanaians have benefited from the Danida Fellowship Centre’s long and short term learning programmes, capacity building initiatives and research projects. To celebrate the great impact of these activities, the Danida Alumni Network in Ghana decided to celebrate the Danida Fellowship Centre’s 25 year anniversary on the same day as the celebrations in Frederiksberg, Denmark.

Danida Alumni’s Role in Institutional Leadership

Three concurrent events were held on 31 August 2017 in the regional capitals of Ghana; Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. The programme included time for personal interaction amongst the alumni present, and speeches on the theme “Danida Alumni’s Role in Institutional Leadership”. This theme was chosen to applaud the Danida Fellowship Centre’s leading position with regard to high quality training and excellent performance after the training.

Seasoned speakers graced the events, including a number who had been Danida fellows themselves. The central message sent by the speakers was that each Danida alum had acquired the skills to be an effective leader in his or her field of specialization.

The way forward

Besides the speeches, the day’s programme included discussions on the way forward for the Danida Alumni Network in Ghana. Among the suggestions were an annual event at one location for all alumni and the creation of interdisciplinary alumni research groups to foster more collaborations.

Other suggestions were to organize quarterly zonal meetings, and to identify and run small projects spearheaded by alumni in selected communities.

The periodic business meetings at the Danish Embassy in Accra were proposed as one avenue where alumni could meet and interact with Danish business men and women in Ghana.

Accra
– Prof Robert Ebo Hinson, University of Ghana Business School
– Dr Ernest Cudjoe Opoku, Faculty of Public Health, Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons

Kumasi
-Dr Eric Henry Yeboah, Department of Sociology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
– Dr Felicity Asiedu-Appiah, Department of Human Resource and Organizational Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Tamale
– Dr Kofi Issah, Regional Director of Health Services, Upper East Region
– Dr John Ekow Otoo, Acting Municipal Director of Health Services, KEEA Municipality, Central Region