Statement at the Third Committee, 1st meeting of UNGA 76th session.


 
Ambassador Harold Agyeman
Permanent Representative
Ghana Permanent Mission to the United Nations
New York City September 30, 2021

                                            

AS DEIVERED

 

DURING THE  GENERAL DEBATE OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE OF THE 76TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 

Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

 

At the outset, I wish to convey to you, Mr. Chairman, my delegation’s warmest congratulations on your election as the Chair of the Third Committee for the 76th Session. I equally congratulate the members of your Bureau and assure the Bureau of Ghana’s full support and cooperation during this session.

My delegation also commends the Bureau and the Secretariat for the arrangements that have been put in place, despite the continued constraints posed by COVID-19, to ensure that this Committee has a successful session.

Ghana aligns herself with the statement delivered by the representative of Gabon on behalf of the Africa Group, and Guinea on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. The following remarks, which we deliver in our national capacity, expands our national perspectives on the areas of social development, the advancement of women, the rights of the child, racial discrimination and racism, and human rights, including the right to development.

 

Mr. Chairman,

My delegation welcomes the Secretary-General’s report on social development, which highlights the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in several countries and recognizes the need for effective social policy as a key driver to better recovery. The theme of the Secretary-General’s report coincides with Ghana’s understanding of the role social development policies and programmes play in the reduction of poverty and the development of an inclusive society for all.

It is in this regard, that the Government of Ghana, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, implemented several socio-economic measures to protect the welfare of Ghanaian citizens, especially the most vulnerable. These measures included the provision of cash and in-kind transfers to residents, mainly women and their dependents, provision of one hot nutritious meal daily to over 2.7 million Ghanaians living within and around areas affected by partial lockdown measures, and the provision of concessionary loans with flexible repayment arrangements to several Ghanaians operating Small and Medium Enterprises.

Ghana agrees with the recommendation of the Secretary-General for Member States to preserve social spending to support national policies and strategies for social development, in order to recover better and get back on track to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Mr. Chairman,

In the area of the advancement of women, Ghana continues to be a strong advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment and firmly believes that women must be given the opportunity to occupy a central place in national development.

Ghana’s resolve in promoting gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment is anchored on legislative and constitutional instruments, such as the Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act732). In a bid to ensure that Ghana’s National Gender Policy corresponds with the attainment of the SDG’s, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has recently commenced a review process of the Policy and its Strategic Implementation Plan, with the goal of making it responsive to global trends and national priorities, including filling gaps and addressing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, violence against women and girls remains a critical area of concern for Ghana. The Government of Ghana is of the view that no circumstance or state should warrant any form of violence against women. Ghana has therefore conducted and launched a research report on domestic violence to identify and adequately address this challenge. The Domestic Violence Secretariat of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection continues to provide the policy guidance on ways to address this phenomenon. On the other hand, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service leads the investigation and prosecution of all cases involving domestic violence and gender-based violence.

Since its establishment in 1998, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) has helped raise awareness on the phenomenon and provided an avenue for cases to be reported. This has contributed to the incidence of victims accessing support services.

As may be known, the President of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is the African Union (AU) champion for the promotion of gender and women empowerment and Ghana’s quest to attain Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE), especially for women and girls living in rural areas remains a high priority of government. Ghana commits to continually seek ways to address discrimination against women and renews the call for Member States to implement policies to eradicate poverty and sustainable livelihoods for women, especially those living in rural communities.

 

Mr. Chairman,

In respect of the rights of the child, Ghana’s resolve remains resolute. Besides a prevailing statute on the rights of children, the Government of Ghana continues to implement policies targeted at improving the welfare of children to guarantee a better future.  In the area of education, a gendered approach has been adopted to promote girls-specific needs in schools, including Menstrual Hygiene Management and a programme dubbed, “Girls’ Empowerment and Community Engagement for Adolescent Protection”. The Community Engagement also facilitates social welfare interaction with adolescent girls and boys, particularly those out of school, caregivers and community leaders on issues of life skills, adolescent development and protection, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR).

The Secretary General’s report on the well-being and empowerment of girls living in rural areas highlighted the issue of the digital divide among students and the havoc it has caused during this pandemic period. This is of major concern and Ghana renews the call for Member States to take decisive steps to address the issue of the digital divide within and among countries. Ghana looks forward to further deliberations on the matter with the objective of seeking solutions to addressing this phenomenon to ensure that all children have access to relevant digital technologies for education. Ghana reaffirms its commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child and to ensuring that no one is left behind.

 

Mr. Chairman,

The commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) on 22nd September 2021 provided us all an opportunity to reaffirm our individual and collective commitment to the Durban Declaration and to look into the future with a Political Declaration that helps in building resilience and hope for addressing contemporary forms of racism.

While acknowledging the progress made by the international community in addressing racism and racial discrimination, Ghana remains concerned about the recent rise in discrimination, hate speech, stigmatization, and related intolerance, both physically and online.

Ghana therefore welcomes the establishment of follow-up processes and mechanisms including the International Decade for People of African Descent, which epitomizes global commitment in addressing the menace.

Ghana encourages States that are yet to adopt the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination to do so in order to enhance global efforts in combating the scourges of racism and complement efforts in realising the objectives of the Durban Declaration.

Ghana believes that a whole of society approach characterised by cooperation between States, the United Nations system, regional organizations as well as key stakeholders like parliaments, civil society, private sector and academia would help in combating the menace. The integration of gender perspective into relevant policies, strategies and programmes of action should be encouraged since it would help deal with multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

Ghana endorses the recommendation in the Secretary-General’s report for priority to be given to the attainment of racial equality in the implementation of  the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by allowing the victims of racial inequality to participate in consultation on human rights issues affecting them. This approach will enable the voices of those victims to be heard to help effectively deal with the menace.

 

Mr. Chairman,

The dire socio-economic conditions across societies as well as the issue of unemployment continue to heighten the vulnerabilities of particularly women, children and the youth, and expose them to other human rights violations including trafficking in persons. In this regard, Ghana looks forward to participating in the upcoming High-level meeting on the Global Plan of Action on Trafficking in Persons from 22nd to 23rd November 2021 to discuss outcomes that will accelerate progress in managing the situation including measures to deal with the use of the internet in perpetrating such crimes.

Ghana recognizes the importance of the protocol on trafficking in persons and wishes to encourage States to make good their commitment to operationalise Article 9, paragraph 4 of the Protocol which call on governments to strengthen measures at the bilateral and multilateral level to “alleviate the factors that make persons, especially women and children, vulnerable to trafficking, such as poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity.

Ghana is particularly worried about the vulnerabilities of children and child victims of trafficking and wishes to reaffirm her commitment to ensuring effective prevention and protection measures for children in situations of forced displacement, or separated children at risk of exploitation by proscribed groups.

 

Mr. Chairman,

Ghana fully supports the implementation of all core international human rights instruments, including the UN Declaration on the Right to Development (DRTD). Ghana believes that the Right to Development complements the framework of civil and political rights and is a key plank required to realise the full enjoyment of human rights. We therefore encourage its operationalisation by all State parties to help address the root causes of human rights violations.

At the national level, Ghana’s constitutional imperatives contained in chapters 5 and 6 of the 1992 Constitution safeguard human rights and establish clear pathways for inclusive governance and sustainable development for all peoples of Ghana without discrimination. Constitutional bodies such as the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) also reinforce the administration of justice and galvanise the support of the citizenry around the democratic values that promote a peaceful, just, inclusive society.

In furtherance of governance frameworks to enhance the full enjoyment rights, Ghana has revised its National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy and passed the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) to provide national direction and an implementation plan for Ghana’s cybersecurity development. These policy and statutory initiatives will help make our cyberspace safe and secure in combating some of the human rights violations perpetrated via online platforms.

In conclusion, I wish to assure you Mr. Chairman, of Ghana’s support and commitment to championing multilateral efforts aimed at addressing the wide range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues before this Committee. Our engagement with member states and this Committee on these pertinent issues will be characterized by cooperation and genuine dialogue in advancing this noble course for humanity which we owe to ourselves as a duty.

 

I thank you for your kind attention.

 

###