Ghana observes UN at 65

23/10/2010

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA yesterday marked the 65th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) with a declaration to continue to work with other member states to reduce poverty and maintain international peace and security.
A flag-raising parade at the forecourt of the State House and a model UN Security Council session by senior high school students at the International Conference Centre formed part of activities to mark the day.
Held on the theme: “Ghana-UN Co-operation: Achieving the MDGs by 2015 for a Better Ghana”, the flag-raising ceremony was attended by Members of the Council of State, Ministers of State, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, traditional leaders, security service commanders and students.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, said the UN had, since its inception, remained the most vital force to secure and sustain international peace and advance human security.
He said the UN was represented in Ghana by agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which partner the government in several areas, including poverty reduction, democratic governance, HIV/AIDS and crisis prevention.
Alhaji Mumuni said the MDGs were a remarkable development compact, providing the framework for both developed and developing countries in addressing issues of poverty, hunger, diseases and debt.
He said the country’s socio-economic development agenda had been focused on growth and poverty reduction with the medium to long-term goal of attaining a middle-income status by 2020. “To facilitate achieving the MDGs, the government is pursuing a number of programmes, including enhanced national insurance scheme, the Capitation Grant, supply of free exercise books and school uniforms to deprived communities and expanded school feeding programme,” he said.
Alhaji Mumuni said with five years to the target year of 2015, Ghana’s performance was encouraging, and indicated that latest reports showed that Ghana was firmly on track.
UN Secretary-General Ban Kin Moon, in a message read on his behalf by the UN Country Co-ordinator, Ms Ruby Sandhun-Rojon, commended Ghana for choosing the theme based on MDGs as it confirmed the government’s commitment to translate the outcomes of the recent global Millennium Summit into concrete actions at the national level.
“The people and government of Ghana have reasons to be proud of the advancements the country has made towards achieving the MDGs. The latest national MDG Report highlights remarkable progress across all of the eight goals,” he said.
However, Mr Ban noted that the report indicated that some MDGs, particularly those concerning child mortality and maternal mortality, remained off-track and would, most likely, not be achieved by 2015.
Therefore, he said he had launched a Joint Action Plan for Women and Children’s health in wider development issues such as gender equality, education, HIV/AIDS, food security, water and sanitation.
The first National Vice President of the Ghana United Nations Students and Youth Association (GUNSA), Mr Kwashie Klu-Dovor, said despite Ghana’s effort at making progress in achieving the MDGs, the country needed to pay attention to areas such as maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and sanitation.