Foreign Affairs Ministry inaugurates e-library-cum-language lab

An e-library-cum-language laboratory has been inaugurated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to enhance the capacity of staff in the discharge of their duties.

The facility, constructed with a Chinese grant of GH¢520,860, is named after Hackman Owusu Agyeman, a former sector minister, for his contribution to the development of the country.

Equipped with a 23-computer set-up, the e-library has extra seating for reading, a large screen for video conferencing and a 65-inch TV and projector for presentation and training.

It is also fitted with a 10-inch tablet for screen mirroring and remote presentation and run on a library management system, which has security tags and registers the movement of all physical material.

At the inauguration on Friday, the sector Minister-designate, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said it had been connected to a leading library data-base for quick reference and research.

She said the project had been on the ministry’s agenda for a number of years and therefore expressed appreciation to the Chinese government for its continuous support to the ministry and the country.

Highlighting the importance of the facility, Ms Botchwey said it would boost the overall productivity of staff and help them remain abreast of the rapidly changing development in the world.

She said with the widening scope of the country’s bilateral and multilateral engagements and the important role of language therein, the language laboratory would certainly give staff the opportunity to learn new languages.

Already, she said the ministry had been collaborating with the Embassy of Colombia in Accra, to offer Spanish as a foreign language course for Diplomats and other Public Servants.

According to the Minister-designate, to ensure that the facility was properly managed and maintained, the ministry had requested the Ghana Library Authority to second an officer from their outfit to the ministry.

“I also wish to urge officers of the ministry to adhere to guidelines for the use of the e-Library, which are intended to prolong the lifespan of this new facility,” she said.

On the naming of the facility after Mr Agyeman, she said it was in line with the ministry’s tradition to name such facilities after illustrious statesmen and women who had paid their due to the development of the country.

Mr Agyeman, a former Member of Parliament for New Juabeng North constituency of the Eastern Region, who served from 2001 to 2003, thanked the ministry for immortalising his name at the ministry.