Ghana statement summary at the 78th United Nations General Assembly

NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, President of Ghana, said that the mutual trust among nations has diminished and the cohesion of societies is nearing that seen during the cold war. “We do not seem to have any common values on which we can all agree, nor common goals to which we all aspire,” he stressed, also pointing to tensions over trade, climate and political boundaries and geopolitical spheres of influence among well-established and rich countries. While recognizing the achievements of the United Nations in the 78 years of its existence, he spotlighted the reluctance of some nations — that were major Powers at its formation — to reforming its organs, in particular the Security Council. Recalling that Ghana is currently serving as a non-permanent member of the Council, he said it has witnessed Member States “preach” democracy, fairness and justice, while practising the opposite by prioritizing parochial interests over humanity.

He went on to say that Member States have never found “the courage and the will” to execute United Nations reform, reiterating a call for correcting the injustice of the Council’s composition in representing African countries. “We cannot rebuild trust when the Organization, that should bind us, is seen by many as helping to perpetuate an unfair world order,” he stressed, noting that since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the Organization appears “unwilling or unable” to influence the events in that country. Observing that instability in the Sahel and terrorist activities have put West African countries under political pressure and economic strain, he pointed to the re-emergence of coup d’états. He said that regional conflicts would be more satisfactorily resolved if the international community supported, and not undermined, regional and continental organizations, also recalling that African people fought and died in the Second World War in defence of Europe and its allies. “It is surely time for the world to reciprocate in our time of need,” he stressed.

Recognizing that African countries do not seek to shirk the responsibility for the problems they face — that are of their own making — he also said that the world should not pretend that the continent’s present day economic and social conditions are not connected with historical injustices. “It is time to acknowledge openly that much of Europe and the United States have been built from the vast wealth harvested from the sweat, tears, blood and horrors of the transatlantic slave trade,” he emphasized, stating that it is time to bring the subject of reparations to the fore. While no amount of money will ever make up for the horrors, it would make the point that millions of “productive” Africans were put to work in the Americas and the Caribbean without compensation for their labour. Moreover, when slavery was abolished, slave owners were compensated for the loss of slaves — labelled as “property” and deemed to be “commodities” — he recalled, announcing that Ghana will hold a global conference on this matter in November.

He also reported that African States are annually losing more than $88 billion through illicit financial flows, adding: “Yes, those monies too must be returned to the continent.” It is difficult to understand why the recipient countries are comfortable retaining such funds, while labelling those countries, from which the money is taken as corrupt, he asserted. To this end, he suggested that a joint taskforce of the African Union Commission and the OECD secretariat be charged to find ways of stopping those outflows. Noting that only 12 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goals targets are on track to be achieved, he emphasized: “It is within our capacity to turn things around.”

Source: UNGA