Ghana, 2004

I have the distinct honour

to congratulate you, Mr. President, a distinguished

African diplomat, on your election to preside over the

fifty-ninth session of this Assembly and to wish you

success in your undertaking. I would also like to

commend your predecessor, Mr. Julian Hunte, for the

dedication and commitment that he brought to bear on

his stewardship of the fifty-eighth session.

Three years ago, a terrible tragedy hit this city.

The unprecedented terrorist attacks of 11 September

resulted in the death of thousands of innocent people of

many nationalities, including some from my own

country, Ghana. The whole world shared the pain and

sorrow of New York in the aftermath of those

atrocities. The whole world also rose in solidarity with

the people of the United States to ensure that such

tragedies would not happen again.

11 September reminds us of the importance of

seeking a multilateral and peaceful means for the

maintenance of international peace and security,

especially now, when it has become evident that only

collective, multilateral efforts will suffice to defeat the

new scourge of mankind, global terrorism.

The United Nations has an indispensable role to

play, being the most universal and representative

intergovernmental organization and the best forum for

the practice of multilateralism. However, the success of

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multilateralism and collective security will depend on

how the reforms of the United Nations system are

implemented. In this regard, we applaud the initiative

of our illustrious compatriot, Secretary-General Kofi

Annan, in setting up the United Nations High-Level

Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, to make

proposals on how the United Nations can best be

reformed to meet the new challenges of our world.

We, in Africa, agree that the objectives of the

United Nations reforms, including the revitalization of

the General Assembly and the reform of the Security

Council, are aimed at enhancing the role of the

Organization and its capacity to overcome current

threats and emerging challenges. The reforms should

be in conformity with the purposes and principles of

the United Nations Charter and the process must be

based on full consultations in a democratic and

transparent manner. To this end, we look forward to a

revitalized General Assembly that would assume its

rightful position as the most authoritative and

representative organ of the United Nations.

With regard to the Security Council, the African

position emphasizes the need to democratize and ensure

equitable geographical representation, with Africa

allotted no less than two permanent seats and five non-

permanent seats in the expanded Security Council.

I wish to address the crucial issue of poverty

eradication and the promotion of sustainable

development in developing countries in which

widespread poverty is endemic, particularly in Africa.

As we strive to overcome our current economic woes,

we need the worldís solidarity, resources, technical

know-how and support. The historic Millennium

Summit of the United Nations, which brought together

189 nations in September 2000 and adopted the

Millennium Declaration, was a clarion call for action to

solve these problems and set forth the Millennium

Development Goals with measurable goals and targets

for combating them. On that occasion, the international

community pledged to spare no effort to free our

fellow men, women and children from the abject and

dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty.

Africa has adopted the New Partnership for Africa's

Development (NEPAD), which reaffirms our belief that

Africans have the primary responsibility to solve the

problems of poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy

afflicting the majority of our population and to stem

Africa's marginalization from global markets. In tandem,

we are striving to foster political stability, accountable

and transparent governance under the rule of law,

because we believe it is the right thing to do. Ghana

has volunteered as the first country in Africa for the

African Peer Review Mechanism, and my Government

is cooperating with the review panel to facilitate the

preparation of the review report, because we in Ghana

cherish very much our democracy and our commitment

of respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Our renewed resolve, within the context of

NEPAD, to accelerate the sustainable development of

the continent, dovetails fully with the avowed

commitment of the international community to help

achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It was,

therefore, a very welcome and positive development

when the General Assembly, in its resolution 57/7 of

4 November 2002, urged the international community

to organize support for African countries within the

framework of the principles, objectives and priorities

of NEPAD. However, for this convergence of vision

and effort to yield the desired results, there must be

genuine partnership between Africa and the

international community.

The implementation of NEPAD and the creation

of institutions such as the Pan-African Parliament, the

Peace and Security Council, the Economic, Social and

Cultural Council, and various commissions of the

recently established African Union, reflect Africaís

determination to be the architect of its own future. The

initiatives of the Economic Community of West

African States, the West African regional body

currently chaired by the President of Ghana, Mr. John

Agyekum Kufuor, in dealing with the conflicts that

have recently plagued our region are good examples of

this development. Accra has been the venue for

successful peace talks concerning Liberia and, most

recently, on 29 July 2004, CÙte díIvoire, which has

revived hopes for a durable peace in that important

West African country.

The important decisions taken at the last summit

of the African Union in Addis Ababa have given cause

for cautious optimism as the political leadership,

Governments, the public, civil society and the private

sector now seem to have embarked upon a journey of

collaborative effort to put an end to conflicts and to

focus instead on the promotion of peace, security and

sustainable development for the benefit of the peoples

of the continent.

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It is disheartening, though, to observe that,

despite the good intentions of the international

community, as exemplified at the various international

forums that have followed the Millennium Summit,

there has not been any significant achievement due to

the absence of genuine global partnership for

development. There continues to be an agonizing paradox

between the summit and conference declarations of a

new global partnership and the persistence of an

asymmetrical global system that works largely against

the interests of developing countries.

Quite evidently, the laudable long-term initiatives

to halve hunger and poverty by the year 2015 cannot be

achieved without a fundamental restructuring of the

global trade system, particularly in agricultural

products. Such an initiative should include developed

countriesí dismantling subsidies and lowering tariffs,

thereby helping to uphold and safeguard an open,

equitable, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory

trading and financial system. The concerns of

developing countries have been reiterated in this

Assembly over the years; we therefore urge our

developed partners to act now.

For many countries in Africa, stable long-term

planning will be impossible without more systematic

and sustained debt relief. Despite the progress recorded

in the implementation of the enhanced Heavily

Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative and the

provision of substantial debt relief by bilateral official

creditors, achieving long-term debt sustainability and,

at the same time, a reduction in poverty as targeted,

remains a major problem for many African countries.

We, therefore, welcome the initiative of British Prime

Minister Tony Blair in setting up the African

Commission.

Official development assistance (ODA), as we are

aware, continues to play an essential role in

complementing other sources of financing for

development and creating a congenial environment for

private sector activity. Although ODA flows, which

decreased in the 1990s, have picked up in recent years,

the fact that these flows remain, on average, still far

below internationally agreed targets is a major cause

for concern. In this connection, it is pertinent to recall

that an additional $50 billion a year in development

assistance would be required as a minimum to meet the

Millennium Development Goals. The fundamental

question facing the international community is whether

it is committed to the indispensable, challenging, but

ultimately rewarding global partnership, which alone

can make this dream come true.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a global emergency

and a key threat to achieving the Millennium

Development Goals, especially for countries in sub-

Saharan Africa. The pandemic has caused untold

suffering and death in our countries, destroying entire

communities, reversing development gains and posing

a serious security threat.

Unfortunately, despite the substantial measures

taken by the Government in combating the scourge,

Ghanaís efforts have been severely constrained by a

lack of adequate resources required to prevent new

infections, provide care and support for people,

particularly women and children living with

HIV/AIDS. We wish to urge the international

community to provide the needed resources for the

fight against this global emergency.

Ghana attaches great importance to the

empowerment of women to make them equal partners

in the formulation and implementation of development

policies. Since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration

and Platform for Action and the outcome of the

twenty-third special session of the General Assembly,

gender equality has been an essential element of

Ghanaís efforts to attain sustainable development. The

active involvement of women in political processes and

decision-making at all levels and in all sectors is being

vigorously pursued. Impediments such as discrimination

and violence against women are being dealt with

through education, advocacy and legislation.

Despite the strong political will within the

international community to create a world fit for

children, the reality in many parts of the world is a far

cry from the ideals voiced at the twenty-seventh

special session of the General Assembly, on children.

We call for the adoption of effective policies to

eradicate poverty, to ensure access to education and to

provide families with support to guarantee the well-

being of children. Decisive international cooperation is

also required to strengthen legal and other preventive

mechanisms to tackle effectively the increasing

practice of child trafficking for unconscionable

exploitative purposes.

Ghana believes that the staff of the Organization,

who make sacrifices daily to maintain peace and

security in zones of conflict and humanitarian disaster,

deserve to be provided with a secure and safe

20

environment in which to operate. In that regard, we

will continue to condemn all attacks against United

Nations personnel and call for firm action by States to

establish conditions that prevent such attacks, in

fulfilment of the obligations of host countries towards

the United Nations and its personnel.

Ghana, as a major troop-contributing country,

will continue to support United Nations peacekeeping

operations globally, as well as in Africa. That

commitment, which began with our participation in the

United Nations Operation in the Congo in 1960, is born

of the firm moral conviction in our solidarity for

humanity and the knowledge that a lack of peace and

stability anywhere can be a real threat to peace and

security for all of us.

In conclusion, I urge Member States to rededicate

themselves individually and collectively to the ideals

that underpin the Organization and provide it with the

commensurate resources as it strives to fulfil the

aspirations of the peoples of the world. We cannot,

should not and must not fail in that undertaking.