Peace Ambassador Ntiamoah-Mensah Speaks at UPF Meeting, UN

His Excellency, Mr. Charles N. Ntiamoah-Mensah a/k/a Mr. CNN, will forever remember March 26-27, 2015. That was when he was invited as one of the speakers of various meetings which included; the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns (CSVGC). He was the replacement speaker for Her Excellency; Ambassador Sire Dione Conde, President of UNESCO Center for Peace, NY whose schedule did not permit her participation.

The meetings took place at the Nigerian Consulate (Nigeria House) that is a few yards from the world renowned United Nations building. The discussion topic was: "Supporting Human Rights for Women in the Family and the World; Equality between Men and Women in a Home where Dignity is lifted and Uplifted.

It continued at the United Nations Headquarters on the topic: “The Relevance of Inter-Religious and inter-Civilizational Dialogue to the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals." The meeting was attended by representatives from around the world that included diplomats, UN agencies, Nongovernmental Organizations, and academia.

H.E. Ntiamoah-Mensah seized the opportunity of a lifetime to walk as it were in the footsteps of Ghana’s own H.E. Kofi Annan. The other renowned speakers/Panelists included; Ambassador Chowdhury, Former Deputy Secretary General to the UN; His Excellency, Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, UN High Representative for the UNAOC, also the former President of 66th Session of the UN General Assembly; His Excellency, The Most Reverend Bernadito C. Auza Titular Archbishop of Suacia; Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN; Dr. Thomas Walsh, the President, UPF International; Mrs. Walsh, Ms Sally Kader, President and Representative to the UN, US Federation and Middle East Peace/United Federation For Peace and Development, H. E. Mr. Ufuk Gokcen, Permanent Observer of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to the United Nations, Dr. Slavomir Redo, Senior Programme Advisor to the Academic Council on the United Nations Systems(acuns.org), Dr. Michael Platzer, Liaison Officer, ACUNS and Mr. Eli Epstein, Co-Founder, Children of Abraham.

For his contribution, H.E. Ntiamoah-Mensah spoke on the need to treat women with respect and dignity. He mentioned various NGOs have outlined ways to empower women in other parts of the world.

He also advised leaders to seek wisdom from above. He quoted from the book of Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 in the Bible: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you". This should serve as a guiding principle in addressing the many issues that confront mankind such as racism, discrimination, women and child abuse, and challenging youth problems.

The moderators for various sessions were; Genie Kagawa of Universal Peace Federation, Chairperson, CSVGC, Taj Hamad, Secretary General, UPF, Francesco Candelari of UNAOC and Dr. Yvonne Lodico.

After the conference, Ambassador Ntiamoah-Mensah walked to the official portrait of ‘Busumuru’ Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary General, where he paid tribute to his hero and fellow-countryman. In this Ambassador Ntiamoah-Mensah noted the similarities between the two having grown up in Kumasi, Ghana, and more specifically in the same neighborhoods of Fante, New Town and Bompata.

Peace Ambassador Ntiamoah-Mensah is now championing women causes and opportunities for orphans. In this he sends his best wishes to UPF and the organizers of the meeting, especially, Ambassador Conde of UNESCO who gave him the exposure worth writing about. For indeed God makes great things from nothing. H.E. Ntiamoah-Mensah admonishes all to dream big and not limit ourselves because we are God’s creation. We must speak positively about ourselves and about others in order to reap positive outcomes.