Ambassador of Korea to Ghana H.E. Jung-taek Lim with ISD’s delegation
A 4- member delegation of the Information Services Department (ISD) led by the Acting Director, Mr. David Owusu-Amoah, and the Head of the Public Relations Coordinating Division (PRCD), Mrs. Ethel Codjoe Amissah paid a courtesy call on the Korean Ambassador, His Excellency, LIM Jung Taek in his office in Accra to discuss areas of collaboration in Communication and Public Relations (PR).
Addressing the delegation, His Excellency LIM Jung-taek, expressed his appreciation for the visit and commended the ISD for its tremendous communication role over the past decades. He also expressed his admiration for the role government Public Relations Officers (PRO) play in the respective government institutions and encouraged them to do more for the development of Ghana and society.
On the issue of media advancement, the Ambassador applauded the Ghanaian media for their maturity and bi-partisan conduct in the area of news reporting, reiterating that it was a move to build a peaceful and prosperous nation.
On his part, the Acting Director of ISD, Mr. David Owusu-Amoah applauded the Korean Government for its commitment and consistent relationship with Ghana which had spanned many years and had added to Ghana’s development in areas of education and Technology. He echoed the need for the Korean government to continue to support Ghana in areas of communication to further enhance the work of government PROs.
Touching on the mandate of ISD, Mr. Owusu-Amoah explained that the Department was a wing of the Ministry of Information in charge of disseminating government policies, programs, and projects to the general public and also soliciting feedback from the people to the government. He added that the ISD had offices in the various regions and districts across the country headed by regional and district information officers, to further enhance the role of information dissemination. He also mentioned that the ISD had officers present in some foreign missions to represent and safeguard the interest of the government.
Mr. Owusu-Amoah recounted that the ISD was going through a transformational agenda aimed at retooling the department to carry out its functions effectively and also to be able to compete in the era of media proliferation and advancement.
The head of the PRCD, Mrs. Ethel Codjoe Amissah in her remarks, explained the role of her Division, narrating that it had the mandate of posting well-trained PROs to the various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAS) as well as the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) to manage the flow of information between the government and the public.
According to her, over ninety PROs had been posted to the various MDAs and RCCs and it was the responsibility of the Division to coordinate the activities of these PROs in areas of reporting, training, and monitoring, adding that it was on that premise that the Division had instituted an awards scheme to recognize and award PROs who had excelled and distinguished themselves as far as government PR was concerned.
She was of the view that constant training of these PROs would bridge the communication gap between the government and the citizens and also bring sanity to the PR profession.
The visit was also to officially invite the ambassador to the 3rd Government PR Excellence Awards and Dinner scheduled to take place on 18th February 2023.
Source: ISD (Mabel Addo)
