Ghana marks 57th UN Day

Ghana on Thursday marked the 57th United Nations (UN) Day with a reminder to the world that the world body was now confronted with new challenges.

These range from intra-state conflict fuelled by ethnic and religious intolerance, illicit traffic in arms, gems and drugs to gross abuses of human rights, international terrorism and environmental disasters, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said at a flag-raising ceremony in Accra. The theme for the celebration is "The United Nations As Ghana's Partner For Sustainable Development Through Poverty reduction."

Alhaji Idris and the UN Resident Co-ordinator, Mr Albert Salia Fawundu inspected a parade mounted by 30 officers and 63 men of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and hoisted the flags of Ghana and the UN respectively. Alhaji Idris said Ghana attaches great importance to the UN because of its commitment to international peace and security, equity and social justice as basic requirements for a world.

He recalled Ghana's commitment to UN peacekeeping activities worldwide saying, "We will continue to devote our resources, inadequate as they are, to manage conflict situations particularly in Africa." Alhaji Idris noted that although there was a correlation between peace and poverty, globalisation had been unable to effectively deal with poverty. The Deputy Minister said there was the need for developing and developed countries and multilateral institutions to step up efforts to meet development goals, adding that this could be achieved through the development of stronger partnership and concerted coordinated activity.

Alhaji Idris referred to the theme and expressed the hope that the UN would accept the challenge of supporting Ghana to make a success story out of the joint effort. Mr Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, in a message read on his behalf by Albert Salia Fawundu, UN Resident Co-ordinator observed that the UN represented the human family saying.

"There are so few things today that any nation can control relying purely on its own resources. And there are so many things that the world's peoples can achieve if we all work together."

"We salute the Organisation on this auspicious occasion, we also salute the UN Secretary-General for the dynamic leadership he had demonstrated in managing the affairs of the world body," Alhaji Idris said.

"We reiterate our support for the Organisation and resolve to continue to be a worthy member of the world body," he added. Mr Annan stressed that pledges made by UN leaders at the Millennium Summit two years ago, which centred on fundamental needs such as poverty reduction, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and the provision of safe drinking water, had to be realised. He cautioned that the pledges, which are known as the Millennium Development goal, with the year 2015 as the deadline, might not be realised "if we don't do better in the next 12 years than in the last ten years".

Mr Alfred George Thompson, National President of the Ghana United Nations Students and Youth Association (GUNSA), congratulated Mr Annan for working towards peace and security in the world.

He said the year in review had been characterised by a war in Afghanistan, unprecedented violence in the Middle East and the looming threat of war in Iraq.

Mr Thompson urged the UN to restore sanity to Afghanistan and noted that in the Middle East, the crises had been allowed to degenerate into a situation where the UN had been relegated to the position of a "spectator".

"Countries that have the appropriate clout to ensure a return to the negotiating table appear to have turned a blind eye to horrific events unfolding in the Middle East by the day."

He said a lasting solution would not be found to the Middle East problem without the help of the UN, adding that from history, conflicts resolved outside the corridors of the UN rarely had long lives.

Mr Thompson condemned recent revelations about nuclear arsenals in various parts of the world. He urged the African Union to resolve the DR Congo crisis in collaboration with the UN.

Mr Thompson urged the government to integrate the youth into the national development process, saying that this was one means by which development could be sustained.

In attendance were Ministers, Members of the Council of State, diplomats, MPs. chiefs and queenmothers and school children.