Ghana has been in the frontline playing very effective role in the United Nations founded on October 24, 1945 to promote global peace, security and international cooperation, since joining the global organization two days after gaining Independence on March 6, 1957.
Its leadership role in the global organsiation, especially commitment to ratifying international treaties, convention, and formulation and implementation socio-economic policies to address global challenges, is unsurpassed.
Ghana’s contribution to global search for sustainable peace and security is remarkable, given that Ghana ranks among the top 10 contributors of troops for UN peacekeeping operations in trouble spots across the globe.
Perhaps, it is not an exaggeration to say that the UN is synonymous with Ghana because the UN system has the highest presence in Ghana than in any other geographical location.
The Ghana government has been working assiduously with the UN and its specialized agencies to address global challenges facing humankind and to ensure no one is left behind.
The highpoint of Ghana’s contribution of global affairs was the stewardship of the Kofi Annan as the UN Secretary-General between January 1997 to December 2006.
Kofi Annan, who passed on to eternity August 18 2018 in Switzerland and buried in his home country Accra, Ghana September 13, 2018 initiated the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000, as a global development agenda.
The Sustainable Development Hub has this to say about the global icon “A committed internationalist, Annan’s self-described greatest achievement was the Millennium Development Goal, the first set of global targets to improve human development and ensure well-being” by reducing hunger, poverty and illnesses within 15 years (by 2015).
After his stewardship with the UN, the global community saw the need to continue with late Annan’s legacy by transiting the MDGs to Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs).
An article in the SDG Knowledge Hub entitled “Kofi Annan and the transition to Sustainable Development Goals” said “The former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan leaves behind a legacy of quiet, behind the scenes diplomacy from his tenure 1997-2006. His achievement helped set the stage for sets of 17 universal Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets we have today.
The successor SDGs, taking off from the MDGs in 2015, aims to achieve three extraordinary things by 2030: end poverty, fight inequality and injustice and fix climate change.
Indeed, Ghana provides leadership, through President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in co-Chairing with Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, an Eminent Group of Advocates supporting the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to mobilise global support and commitment to realizing the cherished goals.
Ghana joined the global community last Sunday October 24 to mark the UN Day (76 years of existence) on the theme “United Nations and Ghana: Working together for a Sustainable and Inclusive Society towards recovery in a post COVID-19 Era.”
Sharing his perspective with the Ghanaian Times on theme, a retired diplomat, Patrick Hayford, underscored Ghana’s efforts in the United Nations to achieve inclusive and sustainable development saying “the free Senior High School Policy is a very clear demonstration of Ghana’s commitment to building a sustainable and inclusive society.”
The former Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa (1997-1999) and Director of Africa Affairs (1999-20005) in the Office of the Secretary General of the UN (Kofi Annan’s era), praised Ghana’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic “Ghana has been in the forefront of efforts to contain the disease, and preparation for recovery, we have done much better than many countries in vaccinations and observing the safety protocols.”
Highlights of some key personalities from Ghana who had provided leadership in the UN system over the years.
Apart from Kofi Annan, Lieutenant General Emmanuel Erskine, who also passed on to eternity early this year, was the first Black African to command a UN forces, that is the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (1978-81), a role he played with distinction.
General Timothy Dibuama was the first Black Africa top military officer to serve as the Military Adviser to the former UN Secretary- General, Javier Perez de Cuellar (1982-1991).
Letitia Eva Takyibea Obeng, an astute scientist was the first African Woman to head the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya in the 70s.
Another personality, former Appeals Court Judge Justice Annie Jiaggye (1918-1996), was the first Ghanaian Woman Lawyer, she was the first woman judge in the Commonwealth and Ghana’s representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (1962). She played important role in putting up woman issues on the agenda of the United Nations.
Mr. Kenneth K. Dadzie was the 5th Director General and the first black African to head the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and also the served in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the Secretary of the United Nations Trusteeship Council’s Decolonialisation Committee.
Indeed, Ghana after gaining Independence in March 1957 played a pivotal role at both the global and regional level in the decolonialisation process, and eventual led to the total liberation of the African continent from the clutches of colonialism.
Dr. Alex Quaison–Sackey, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first Republic under Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was the first black Africa to become the President of United Nation’s General Assembly between 1964 and 1965.
Lately, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas had served a successful tenure of office and scored high diplomatic points as the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for West Africa and the Sahel, after having served as Head of the United Nations Office in West Africa and the Sahel.
Currently, the two distinguished Ghanaian female diplomats are our torchbearers within the UN system: former Trade Minister, Hannah Tetteh, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union and Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.
These achievements, indeed, reflects Ghana’s commitment to pursuing foreign policy agenda that places the country high on the global map as a key global player within the comity of nations.
BY SALIFU ABDUL-RAHAMAN
