Accra, July 19, GNA - Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Public Sector Reforms, on Tuesday urged Public and Civil Servants to change their attitude to their profession, be diligent and proud of what they did instead of looking down upon themselves.

Dr Nduom, who was briefing the French Minister of Public Services, Mr Christian Jacob, who is in the country to sign partnership agreements between France and Ghana, said Public and Civil Servants were significant parts of the nation's change process playing front roles that brought honour to the country.

He said it was the only way that they could bring due attention to themselves and raise their image.

Referring to cases in Europe where Public and Civil Servants encouraged their children to follow their footsteps in the Service to the nation, he noted that the opposite was the case in Ghana where Civil Servants asked their children not to join the Service. He said the time had come for all to put their hands on deck to ensure that the Public and Civil Service reverted to is former state where people were proud to be part of.

Dr Nduom thanked the French Government for its support to Ghana's development efforts and expressed the hope that the cooperation being sought by the two countries would be fruitful for the benefit of their peoples.

Mr Jacob said he was happy that the agreements being signed on Tuesday were initiated only a year ago and had already started yielding fruits.

"France itself is working out a system where reforms, as they are being effected in Ghana, could take place for effective and efficient workings of public service."

Mr Jacob commended the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for its ability to combine systems to train politicians, business operators and government officials in the management of the reforms.

Mr Jacob later signed an agreement with the Ministry of Public Sector Reforms under which the French Government would support it with a grant to augment its reform agenda.

In a separate development, Mr Jacob signed a 1.5 million-euro grant agreement in support of the decentralization and local governance project.

The project aims at deepening and strengthening Ghana's decentralization process and mainstreaming local governance institutions into the development machinery.

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, who signed for Ghana, said activities to be carried out would involve the provision of support to institutions of the Civil Service and building their capacity.

The project has three main components - 2.8 billion cedis for the development of framework for the management of the Civil Service; 8.5 billion cedis as support for local government institutions in the Western Region and 3.8 billion cedis for awareness creation in building capacity of stakeholders and participants within local governance and Civil Service system in coming up with modules for training.

Mr Baah-Wiredu thanked the French Government for its support in the Multi-Donor Budget Support Framework, stressing that the Government was pleased especially with the support for the Controller and Accountant-General's Department.