Ghana reiterates support for expansion of UN Security Council

Accra, June 6, GNA - Ghana has reiterated her support for the expansion of the UN Security Council, calling the current composition outdated and requiring changes to global realities of the 21st Century.

The Security Council needs to include in its membership all the people of the world, especially the peoples of Africa, the only Continent not represented, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, NEPAD and Regional Integration, said in Seoul, Republic of Korea, at a luncheon held in his honour by the Ghana Mission. A statement received by the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the Minister described the exclusion of Africa from the Council as unjust and must be rectified in the current process of reform.

The Minister attended the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Malaysia ahead of the forthcoming Summit in Havana, Cuba. Ghana, according to Nana Akufo-Addo, still supported the need for UN reforms and urged all peace loving countries to support the move to ensure that the expansion was fair and covered all peoples. South Africa, Nigeria, Germany and Japan are among countries pushing for seats on the Security Council.

At a meeting with Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea, Nana Akufo-Addo said it was important for continents such as Africa and Asia to work together to ensure that the emerging global order r esponded to the preoccupations of all the peoples of the world.

African and Asian Leaders last year agreed in Jakarta, Indonesia, to define a new strategic relationship between the two Continents, which would enable Asian and African peoples to benefit from globalization and reinforce their links in the new world order. Nana Akufo-Addo said cooperation between countries such as Ghana and Korea assisted the process, and noted that President Roh Moo-Hyun's new African initiative and three-fold increase of Korea's Overseas Development Assistance to Africa were welcome signs of an expanded relationship.

Ghana and Korea established diplomatic ties in 1977 and these were strengthened in 1990 with the signing of the Technical, Economic Cooperation and Trade Promotion Agreement, which defined the legal framework for bilateral cooperation.

"The time has come for us to review this agreement in the face of current development," Nana Akufo-Addo said, adding that Korea had been of great assistance to Ghana under the Agreement. Korea's Assistance to Ghana includes the Buipe-Bolgatanga Pipeline Project and expansion of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). "We want to encourage SK Corporation, together with its partners such as Samsung Corporation to take interest in the impending privatization of TOR." He said Ghana would work as part of an African consensus in Korea's determination to have its Foreign Minister to succeed UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan. The AU Summit in Banjul next month would provide the way forward to outline the consensus, Nana Akufo-Addo said. Mr Ban said the Korean Initiative was part of an international effort to share the experiences and know-how that they had gained during the process of rapid economic development. He called for support to see the Initiative through, praising Ghana's peace building efforts across the world. 06 June 06