Maiden JICA lecture series - ‘JICA Chair’ opens at the University of Ghana

JICA will on Thursday, March 16 2023 hold the maiden lecture Series- “JICA Chair”, at Ghana’s premier university, the University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, to share Japan’s unique development experiences.

The event would bring together policy makers, experts, academics, business leaders, the diplomatic corps, civil society organisations, people who have studied in Japanese universities, all under one roof to exchange ideas, knowledge and experiences.

Japan is considered the world over as the first country to modernise from a non-Western background to establishing a free, democratic, prosperous and peace-loving nation based on the rule of law, without losing much of its tradition and identity.

In this regard, Japan possesses rich experiences and could serve as the best example or blueprint, for developing countries to follow in their own quest for development.

The lecture series therefore aims at sharing Japan’s experiences and lessons learned through its modernisation and development cooperation with the hope that it can lead development studies globally and thereby contribute to sustainable development.
 
Background

JICA in 2018 launched the “JICA Development Studies Programme (JICA-DSP)” in collaboration with various universities in Japan, with an aim to produce future leaders of developing countries.

The programme was designed to offer opportunity to study respective academic fields at Japanese graduate schools, and

Japanese studies that explore Japan’s modernisation and development cooperation experiences, in light of its historical and cultural background.

In a bid to expand the opportunities of such Japanese studies in partner countries as well, JICA initiated the “JICA Chair (JICA Programme for Japanese studies)” in collaboration with leading universities in partner countries.

JICA Chair’s activities include short intensive lectures conducted by lecturers, dispatched from Japan, on Japan’s development experiences, in the fields of politics, economics, public administration, law and others.

This maiden lecture on the theme “Japan International Cooperation Policy toward Ghana and Africa”, would be led by the Vice-President, International University of Japan. Prof. KATO Hiroshi.

The event would be associated with Japanese cultural experiences organised by JICA volunteers as well as reports from ex-participants who studied in Japanese universities.