Akron-Accra Partnership Board Established
Akron-Accra Partnership Board has been established to strengthen the relationship between Akron-Ohio and Accra-Ghana. The partnership board was incorporated in Accra on February 9, 2017 under the lead of The “Ambassador of Akron to Ghana”, Abdulsalam Mohammed Daaru. The board seeks to deepen the bond between Akron and Accra-Ghana in the areas of education,health,tourism, culture, and business. It also intends to organize annual business summits both in Akron and in Accra. The annual business summit is expected to draw major industries in Akron such as Good Year Rubber, Water Treatment industries to Ghana for collaborations in order to support the Government of Ghana fulfill its major promises of building factories and dams.
Akron is a city in Ohio in the United States of America. It is the fifth largest city in the US. It is known to be a manufacturing center and for its connections to a great number of canals and railroad lines. Akron has many pet names some of which are “City of Invention”, “Rubber Capital of the World” or “Rubber City”. The inhabitants of Akron are known as Akronites. Akron is also a welcoming summit to many who visit Akron. “Akron means a lot to me because of the unique transformation i experienced living there. The people of Akron are welcoming and are very much ready to provide opportunities to foreigners and internationals. In just four months, I have developed many strong personal and institutional network and my vision is to harness all these to the benefits of Ghana,hence the formation of the board” Mr. Mohammed emphasized.
The board has plans to host many businesses and government delegations from Akron to Accra and to have similar delegations from Accra to Akron in March to tie up the arrangements on the summit.The establishment of the partnership board came as a fallout of a Community Solution Program attended by Abdulsalam Mohammed Daaru, an International Peace Activist and a lead researcher of PPF Research and Peace Institute. As a fellow of the 2016 Community Solution Program of the Educational and Cultural Affairs of United States Department of State, Mr. Mohammed dedicated his time in USA delivering presentations on effective strategies for achieving global peace in many universities in Northeast Ohio including conferences attended by many top US security experts and institutions. Whiles living in Akron-Ohio, he worked with Global Ties Akron during the community solution program. Mr Mohammed initiated several city to city partnerships and collaborations. On 21st November 2016, he met with the mayor of Akron, Daniel Horrigan and presented to him a proposal on how to strengthen the connection between Akron-Ohio and Accra Ghana .
This is in accordance to an already existing collaborative agreements signed in December 2015 between then mayor of Accra, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije and the former mayor of Akron, Jeff Fusco Fusco.
In area of Health, Mr. Mohammed Daaru, who works with the National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Center (NRPS&BC) attended the Heal Ohio Conference where he met health care officials and medical directors of major burns centers in Akron and Cleveland initiated hospital to hospital collaborations with his department in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. These collaborations are in the area Telemedicine and Transfer of expertise, Periodic Medical Teleconferencing Training, professional exchange program, Exchange Visits for Staffs, Joint Clinical Research, Transfer of Expertise in the area of BURNS ICU managements and donation of hospital equipment.
In a collaboration with Global Ties Akron, Abdulsalam, developed a virtual exchange program for a minimum of 2,400 people from Ghana and Akron in the area of education, health and peace building. Sixty students so far have benefited from the pilot program held on December 4, 2016 between Revere High School in Akron-Ohio and Unity International School in Accra.
According to Mr. Mohammed the initiative is coming up the next program which will take place on March 18, 2017. ” We are in the process of setting up an exchange with the Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio and Girl Guides / girl leaders from Accra to take place as part of World Thinking Day activities on March 18, 2017. We are also connecting with local student organizations and schools in both cities to establish additional student led cross cultural dialogues” he said
By: Kandey Alhassan/@ghanaguardian.com
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