Ghana, 2003

The past two years have been

years of near apocalyptic ordeal for the world and this

great Organization. In rapid succession, the world and

this Organization have been caught in what can only be

described as a crossfire of terrorism, violence and wars.

The uncertainties resulting from these situations are yet

to be dispelled. Much of the world is still in the dark,

groping for a glimpse of what the future direction of

international relations and this Organization will be.

The recent unwarranted attacks against the United

Nations headquarters and personnel in Baghdad, Iraq,

should be roundly condemned. They should not break

the will of this Organization to continue to provide

humanitarian assistance and relief to the people of Iraq.

We in Ghana still believe in the United Nations as

the global repository of humankind’s aspiration. We

believe that the problems of the twenty-first century

cannot be addressed without universal commitment to

multilateralism spearheaded by the United Nations. We

recommend, however, that fairness, firmness, humanity

and a sense of balance must characterize United

Nations responses to all events of a similar nature,

irrespective of where such events occur, if this

Organization is to enhance its credibility and ensure its

relevance in a sustained manner.

Living in the West African subregion, which has

experienced more than its fair share of conflicts, my

countrymen are familiar with the negative effects of

conflicts, and the pain of insecurity. They also know

the importance of multilateral efforts in conflict

management. Hence, for more than 40 years, Ghana

has demonstrated commitment to international conflict

prevention and resolution and peacekeeping missions

around the world, under the auspices of the United

Nations, and now the Economic Community of West

African States (ECOWAS). The latest is the country’s

participation in the ECOWAS Peace Force

(ECOFORCE), in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.

Africa accepts its responsibility for resolving the

continent’s internal conflicts. Today, there is no doubt

that the nations of Africa are rising to this challenge.

But there is also no doubt that the continent suffers

massive shortcomings in financing and technological

resources. This is why the international community,

especially the United Nations, under its Charter

obligations, must continue to support Africa in its

efforts to maintain peace. It is therefore hoped that

Security Council consideration of Africa’s conflicts

will yield adequate, practical and timely support to

resolve them.

In my current capacity as Chairman of ECOWAS,

I wish to acknowledge the valuable support of the

various Governments as well as international

organizations, which have contributed to the efforts of

the Community to achieve peace and stabilize the

subregion. With this help, the Community is

succeeding in resolving conflicts that have engulfed

Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and other nations.

All of them are now, thankfully, on the way to stability

and normality. I therefore seize this opportunity to

express the appreciation of the Community and myself

to France, the United Kingdom and the United States of

America, as well as the European Union and the United

Nations, under the leadership of the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, to name just a few of those who have

provided substantial assistance.

While ECOWAS fully appreciates the support of

our friends, it must nevertheless appeal for some more

resources from this Organization and the international

community to enable it to consolidate the peace and

normalization process. It might be necessary to stress

that, in some instances within the subregion, post-

conflict peace-building efforts have failed, mainly

because the problems involved were not addressed in a

systematic, sustained and holistic manner. In the main,

such problems include the disarmament,

demobilization and reintegration of combatants into

regular society. ECOWAS therefore appeals for the

assistance needed for their effective management.

Yet another serious continuing menace is the

prevalent illicit trade in small arms and light weapons

in the subregion. In this regard, we note the

commendable progress made by the international

community in addressing this menace through the

United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent,

Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms

and Light Weapons. The truth, however, is that more

vigorous and resourceful effort is needed to succeed.

The Human Development Report 2003 exposes

the tragedy that besets sub-Saharan Africa, and this is

the most suitable platform to highlight it. The report

states that the rest of the world has left sub-Saharan

Africa behind, and that it will take 150 years for our

region to achieve the Millennium Development Goals

that Member States of this Organization had hoped to

achieve by 2015. The report indicates that: “Unless

things improve, it would take sub-Saharan Africa until

2129 to achieve universal primary education, until

2147” — more than a century later than hoped — “to

halve extreme poverty, and until 2165 to cut child

mortality by two thirds. For hunger, no date can be set

because the region’s situation continues to worsen.”

This is the century of the global village. How can

sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 400 million

people, be condemned to such a fate? Clearly, this must

not be acceptable for the globalization process. This is

why the international community, particularly the

industrialized nations, should appreciate the urgency of

the situation and offer commensurate partnership and

assistance to the African Union and its initiative, the

New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD),

to relaunch the continent’s development.

The current leadership of the continent has

resolved to nurture Africa back to prosperity within the

framework of the NEPAD. Good governance —

characterized by democratic constitutional rule; the

rule of law; respect for human rights and property

rights; accountable government and its recognition and

intercourse with civil organizations; freedom of

expression; private-sector promotion; religious

tolerance; eradication of illiteracy; and promotion of

gender balance and children’s rights — is fast

becoming the order of the day throughout Africa.

Indeed, good governance is an article of faith of the

African Union today.

Economically, the African Union is calling for

partnerships, both within and outside the continent, to

pool capital, technological and managerial ideas, and

also markets, to promote and fast track the

development of Africa into the mainstream of the

global market.

At this stage, may I be permitted to express some

reservations on the topical issue of world trade? It must

be recognized that even as globalization is engulfing all

the corners of the world, in such a manner that no part

can opt out, free trade and competition, which are the

hallmarks of the global market, can prove inimical and

disastrous to most nations, particularly the developing

and least developed countries. This will be so unless

the process of globalization is properly and sensitively

managed.

The reality of the situation is that most of the

least developed countries are in Africa, especially sub-

Saharan Africa. At the current stage of development,

most of Africa is limited to exporting raw minerals and

agricultural commodities. This means that unless the

developed parts of the world remove subsidies for their

agricultural and mineral sectors, Africa cannot be

competitive. Indeed, Africa’s equivalent sectors may be

destroyed with dumping from the advanced parts of the

world. It is also being seriously suggested that, even as

the World Trade Organization (WTO) recognizes that

Africa must be accorded a status of transition, or a

special status for a carefully calculated period, the

WTO does not seem to be propagating this necessity

enough to give practical effect to it. The failure of

Cancún bears witness to this. The World Trade

Organization must, therefore, do its homework well to

carry the poor nations with it. A combination of trade

and aid must be used to assist the African Union and its

component nations and to nurture their economies into

competitive resourcefulness. This is the way to

empower Africa and get it into the mainstream of the

world market, without adding to the hardships of the

already marginalized people of the continent.

This being a session devoted to the consideration

of the biennial budget for 2004-2005, we hope that all

Member States will work together positively to ensure

that adequate funding is provided for all prioritized

mandates for implementation, including those for the

development and stability of Africa. In this regard, we

welcome the recent establishment of the Office of the

Special Adviser on Africa to the Secretary-General,

and look forward to the positive contribution which the

Office will make to meet the numerous challenges on

the continent.

My delegation is happy with the Secretary-

General’s renewed efforts to reform aspects of this

Organization’s operations and appreciates his challenge

to Member States to make a bold effort towards this

end. In this regard, we assure him of our full support

during this session for the adoption and implementation

of his renewed vision, and we endorse his report

entitled “Strengthening the United Nations: an agenda

for further change” (A/57/387 and Corr.1).

We also wish to reiterate the imperative need for

the Security Council to be reformed, in order to ensure

that it carries out its Charter obligations more

effectively in the full confidence of Member States. In

this regard, we subscribe wholly to the Non-Aligned

Movement’s position on the question of an increase in

the membership of the Security Council. We also

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endorse Africa’s claim to have at least two permanent

seats.

We sincerely hope that the Organization will be

empowered to assume a central role in the current

efforts to normalize the situation in the Middle East,

especially in Iraq and Palestine. The strengthening of

the Organization to provide this leadership will

reinvigorate it to survive this century and promote the

cause of peace and security in the world.

Let me conclude by thanking your predecessor

for having ably guided the deliberations of the General

Assembly through what was by all accounts a

particularly difficult year. We are also happy to see you

in the Presidency. We are confident that the General

Assembly could not be in more competent hands and

we wish you well.

I thank you and may God bless us all.