Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA)

The Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA), established by the University of Ghana in December 1989, is considered as Ghana’s most important International Affairs research institute. LECIA is part of the Faculty of Social Studies at the University of Ghana.

LECIA describes its aims as follows:

• To equip Diplomats and Public Officials with modern skills to enable them successfully compete in a fierce international environment,
  
  
• To assist the nation as a whole to understand the advantages of promoting regionalism and regional integration,
  
  
• To share information and best practices, promote trade, investment and peace; and project Ghana’s image and defend the national interest.

Through its M.A. and other higher degree study programmes, LECIA tends to produce well-informed, highly qualified specialists in order to promote Ghana’s foreign and allied services. LECIA also provides continuing education opportunities for the target personnel of the services through workshops, conferences, seminars, symposia, and occasional lectures. The Centre carries out research on topical issues on Ghana’s and Africa’s foreign policies agendas and disseminates the results through publications, releases and commentaries in newspapers, radio and television.
The Centre runs a 12-month course in International Affairs leading to the award of an MA degree in accordance with the existing University of Ghana regulations.

Collaboration with FES

Over many years already, collaboration of FES and LECIA has proved to be very steady and intensive.

In conjunction with FES, LECIA organized workshops, seminars and hearings to provide with skills and information both for members of Parliament and representatives of Civil Society organizations.
In 2003 for instance, LECIA and the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, with support from FES, organized a series of zonal hearings throughout Ghana on: “Consolidating Constitutional Democracy in Ghana”.

Since the mid 1990s, LECIA and FES are intensively cooperating with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs. In this context, LECIA and FES organized a great number of seminars to provide members of the Committee with relevant information on different topics, e.g. on a variety of topical issues.

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Legon Centre for International Affairs
University of Ghana
P.O. Box 25
Legon, Ghana
Tel: +233.21.501025 / 516151
Fax: +233.21.501311 / 516152
e-mail: training@libr.ug.edu.gh