We'll support Rawlings in new role - Minister

Ghanaian Foreign Minister, Hackmann Owusu-Agyemang said Monday that the Accra government would support former President Jerry John Rawlings in his new role as UN Eminent Person for Voluntary work.

He told the Executive Co-ordinator of the UN Volunteers (UNV), Sharon Capeling-Alakija, in Accra that Ghana had always supported the UN in voluntary capacities.

The Foreign Minister added that President John Kufuor's government would continue to work with multilateral organisations to ensure the country remains competitive in the global economy.

He expressed the hope that in his new role, Rawlings would carry the mantle of voluntarism beyond the shores of Ghana.

The Minister said he is happy that voluntary work in the UN has been institutionalised, adding that in some cases voluntary workers have performed better than "experts."

Capeling-Alakija said the UNV has 5,000 volunteers from 149 countries.

She said Ghana has a tradition of giving and receiving volunteers, saying that Ghanaian volunteers constitute one of the strongest supplies of human resource under the UNV.

"Currently there are 35 Ghanaian volunteers serving in various countries, particularly in East Timor as electoral observers," she said.

Capeling-Alakija also met with Rawlings, who was given the appointment by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, after ruling Ghana for almost 20 years.

The former President said the fight against malaria and AIDS demands "social responsibility and the working together of policing and judicial mechanisms."

He said the human society should live up to its health responsibility to stem the two killer diseases.

"Even though the advanced countries are supporting the fight against these diseases, it is time for us to wake up to our responsibilities because as the saying goes, God helps those who help themselves," Rawlings said.

He expressed regret that even though information technology has brought the world closer together, it could not address the socio-economic imbalance among countries.

"While malaria is absent and AIDS cases are declining in advanced countries, AIDS infections are increasing and people cannot afford malaria treatment in third world countries."

Rawlings said the "immense gap" between the third world and the developed world would have been wider but for the contributions of UN volunteers.

"I have a great deal of respect for them. I thank them," he said, adding, "while I believe it is a Herculean role, I would play my part to (complement) the efforts of those already in the field."

Senegalese former President Abdou Diouf and a Body Shop founder, Anita Roddick, were also named UN Eminent Persons by Annan, a Ghanaian international diplomat.

The title is conferred on persons who have distinguished themselves in volunteering for the welfare of mankind.