Thank you my brother and President of the 71st Session of the United Nations
General Assembly
Mr. Secretary General
Colleague Delegates to the Assembly
Allow me to first congratulate Ambassador Peter Thompson on your elec ... read full comment
Thank you my brother and President of the 71st Session of the United Nations
General Assembly
Mr. Secretary General
Colleague Delegates to the Assembly
Allow me to first congratulate Ambassador Peter Thompson on your election as
President of the General Assembly and to assure you of Ghana's support and
cooperation during this 71st Session and throughout your tenure.
I congratulate also Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, for his selfless and dedicated
service to our Organization over the past eight years and for the achievements
during his tenure of office.
His time as Secretary-General witnessed some key defining moments for the
United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security,
development and human rights, and I commend him for his leadership.
I am President of the Republic of Ghana. I was born one year after my country
gained independence from colonial domination in 1957. I was born in the same
year as Michael Jackson whose untimely tragic death shocked the whole world.
Michael also known as the King of Pop was one of the greatest artistes that ever
lived. The words of his 1991 hit song "Heal the world" continue to echo to us from
the grave.
Michael Jackson sang, "heal the world/make the world a better place for you and
for me/and the entire human race".
His song released in 1991 came at a time of excitement for the world.
In the 58 years of my life, I have seen the world change more rapidly than in the
millions of years of its existence. My life has spanned the excitement of the post
war era, the heady days of our liberation from colonial rule in Africa, the Apollo
moon landing, the cold war, the excitement at the fall of the Berlin wall, the era of
globalization, the end of apartheid, the global progress of the MDGs, the Arab
Spring, Brexit, China's slowdown, SDGs, ISIS, Cyber Attacks and on and on and on.
Mr. President,
Our world today is more complicated than it has ever been. And the question I ask
is, what happened to the ideals that gave birth to this organization, the United
Nations. What happened to that enthusiasm that captured the spirit of the post
war world, that envisioned peace, safety and security for all mankind?
What happened to the excitement at the thawing of the cold war? And what
happened to our joy at the collapse of apartheid?
The era of the cold war created a paradoxical safety and security. The bipolar
world and the arms race assured mutua! destruction from any nuclear war. The
world was more predictable.
Those of us in developing countries hid behind our shield of the Non-Aligned
Movement. We marched against nuclear armaments and envisioned the day the
nuclear arms race would end so the trillions of dollars spent by the superpowers
on nuclear weapons would yield a dividend that will create a life of prosperity for
all people on earth,
i"/';7 'ÿ> ............
".. ' "
Thank you my brother and President of the 71st Session of the United Nations
General Assembly
Mr. Secretary General
Colleague Delegates to the Assembly
Allow me to first congratulate Ambassador Peter Thompson on your elec ...
read full comment