This year, five Ghanaian volunteers will be welcomed in France, as part efforts to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
A statement issued by the French Embassy in Accra recounted that on the occasion of President President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s visit to France on 8th -10th July; France and Ghana concluded a historic cooperation agreement to promote volunteering and exchange of volunteers and language assistants between the two countries.
It said the agreement was signed between Madam Shirley Ayorkor Boatchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and Mr Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, the French Secretary of State to the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
It said the purpose of this agreement was to promote and facilitate exchanges of volunteers and language assistants and their mobility between the two countries.
The statement said to bring this agreement to life, ‘France volontaires’, in partnership with the Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department of the French Embassy in Ghana and Alliance Française d’Accra, worked to ensure that five young Ghanaian volunteers accomplish a reciprocal civic service mission in France in 2019.
It said for a period of eight months, volunteers would be hosted in general or agricultural high schools where they will work on issues related to English language learning and intercultural exchanges.
The statement said these five new volunteers are in addition to four others who have already completed a mission in France since 2017 (one in 2017 and three in 2018).
It said in order to facilitate the arrival of young people in France, France volontaires, operator of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in terms of volunteering and civic engagement abroad, organised a “departure” training on Monday 30 September at Alliance Française Accra.
“Their mission is also fully supported by France (State, Embassy, schools) and France Education International (formerly the Centre international d’études pédagogiques – CIEP) is the institution designated by the French Government to manage these language assistant programmes,” it said.
