Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked the United Nations (UN) to take immediate steps to reform the organisation.
According to him, the global organisation is currently not seen as being fair to its own members, hence the need for the urgent reforms.
The president was delivering his maiden address to the United Nations at its 72nd General Assembly on Thursday.
The President noted that though the reform has been talked about and scheduled for a long time, the UN has not had the “courage” to take that bold step to change its structure.
“The time is long overdue to correct the longstanding injustice of the current structure and composition of the UN Security Council’s representations from the nations of Africa,” he cited for instance. The Council is composed of 15 Members: five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly (with end of term date) President Akufo-Addo, without mincing words, told the UN General Assembly that the world body cannot continue to preach democracy, fairness, peace and justice around the world “when our global organisation is not seen by the majority of its members as having a structure that is just and fair”.
The UN, he reminded, is seen by many as helping to perpetuate an “unfair world order”. The UN should rather be seen as providing the best vehicle for the world to manage its many problems, President Akufo-Addo pointed out.
“And we will undermine its credibility, and failing in our duty if we do not reform the United Nations…the time for reform has come,” he declared. The President also talked about other issues including nuclear and Ghana government’s social intervention policy, the Free SHS programme.
3news.com
