The Country Director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Ghana, Dong Hyun Lee, has reaffirmed the agency’s unwavering commitment to promoting sustainable development through volunteerism and technical cooperation in the country.

He acknowledged the valuable contributions of Korean volunteers across the country and praised local partners for their role in ensuring that the volunteer programme aligns with Ghana’s national development goals.

Mr Lee stated this at the 2025 KOICA Volunteer Conference, aimed at strengthening stakeholders and enhancing partnerships to improve collaboration with institutions that host Korean volunteers across the country.

The conference brought together a wide range of participants, including representatives from the education, health and community development sectors, principals, head teachers, teachers, the Director of the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana and the Municipal Director of Education for New Juaben South.

Knowledge Sharing

A Director at the Centre of Asian Studies of the University of Ghana, Dr Lloyd Adu Amoah, stressed the need for the government to prioritise Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) to cultivate well-rounded individuals with strong social capacity and moral compass.

"Digitalisation has become important for the world; policies in Ghana now heavily focus on STEM, which is okay, but we should also not lose sight of the fact that the humanities and arts are responsible for inspiring innovation.

“So instead of STEM, let’s consider STEAM by bringing in the humanities and arts. It is important because we want to create human beings that are whole, not partial," he said.

Sharing experience

The Senior Research Officer at the Ministry of Education and a member of the KOICA Alumni Association of Ghana (KAAG), Mr Kingsley Kofi Boachie, shared his experience as a KOICA’s Capacity improvement and advancement for tomorrow (CAIT) programme fellowship beneficiary when he explained that the event formed part of  Korea’s flagship initiative for human resource development, offering public officials from developing countries the opportunity to gain advanced training.

Mr Boachie acknowledged that the initiative had helped strengthen skills, promote innovation and build global networks.

The participants reaffirmed their commitment to working collaboratively to optimise the contribution of volunteers towards the country’s development goals.