Ghana has pledged to use its tenure on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to advance stronger and deeper collaborations between the United Nations (UN) and regional bodies.
The country was last week elected to serve a two-year term on the council beginning 2022 after securing 185 votes out of the 190 members present at the assembly.
This is the second time the country has been elected onto the council with the first during the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor in 2005.
Addressing the media in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said Ghana’s election onto the council presented an opportunity for the country to bring it values and expertise to bear on the UN in addressing the challenges confronting the world today.
“Our membership is an opportunity to bring our values, experiences and expertise to bear on the work of the UN in addressing the challenges confronting our world today,” she emphasised.
She noted that, such challenges including violence, extremism, terrorism, malicious cyber threats and illicit trafficking of arms required collaboration from all regional bodies and the UN to deal with.
“We will also use our tenure on the security council to advance stronger and deeper collaboration and cooperation between the UN and regional bodies in a manner that enhances complementarity and ensure effectiveness of co-ordinated action and strengthen burden sharing arrangements with the UN in order to mobilise increased financial support for our regional and continental initiatives for peace building missions,” Ms Botchwey said.
She explained that success in the maintenance of peace and security was key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially in Ghana and West Africa in general.
“It is for this reason that the theme for our tenure on the council is “Enhancing global peace for sustainable development” and we believe this reflects the vision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to ensure a peaceful and resilient environment for the economic well being of all our people,” she added.
The Minister said Ghana’s membership on the council would bring both tangible and intangible benefits not only to Ghanaians but also the entire sub-region.
She used the occasion to express gratitude to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for his leadership at the continental and global level and his key role in campaigning for support for Ghana’s candidacy.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
