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Be fair to Africa- Akufo-Addo tells UN (audio)

Be fair to Africa- Akufo-Addo tells UN (audio)

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday called on world leaders to be courageous enough to undertake a massive reform of the United Nations in order to address imbalances in the global political systems.

He said the UN cannot reasonably purport to preach peace and fairness across the world when there are traces of unfairness and imbalance in the UN bodies.

Addressing the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York, US, for the first time as President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo said the time is long overdue to correct the imbalances in the UN systems and give African countries better representations on the UN Security Council.

"It has been talked about and scheduled for a long time, but, somehow, we have never found the courage and the will to reform the United Nations. Ghana supports the process of UN Reform, especially of the UN Security Council, as set out in Africa’s Common Position on UN Reform, based on the Ezulwini Consensus. The time is long overdue to correct the longstanding injustice that the current structure and composition of the UN Security Council represent for the nations of Africa," he said.

Click to listen President Akufo-Addo's address here {mp3}akufo_addo_unga_address_72nd{/mp3}

"We don't want handouts" – Akufo-Addo tells UN

Ghana does not want to continue living on handouts and charity, President Akufo-Addo said.

“We don’t want to be a scar on anybody’s conscience,” he said and added, “We want to build an economy that is not dependent on charity and handouts.”

“Long and bitter experience have taught us that no matter how generous a charity, we would remain poor...,We want to build a Ghana which looks to the use of its own resources and their proper management as the way to engineer social and economic growth in our country.”

He continued: “We want to build an economy that looks past commodities to position our country in the global market place.”

“We are not disclaiming aid, but we do want to discard a mindset of dependency and living on handouts. We want to build a Ghana beyond aid. It is an easier platform on which to build sustainable relationships,” Nana Akufo-Addo explained.

Deadly Sahara voyages

President Akufo-Addo said that the economic revolution being embarked by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) should ensure that Ghanaians stopped putting their lives in danger by crossing the Sahara Desert in search of better opportunities.

He said Ghana is working to grow the economy and churn out numerous opportunities for all citizens.

“No longer should Ghanaians feel the need to subject themselves to the intolerable and inhumane conditions of crossing the Sahara and drowning in the Mediterranean in the hope of making a living in Europe,” he told the international community when he made his maiden speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, 21 September.

Government has embarked on some initiatives such as the Planting for Food and Jobs and the One-District-One-Factory programmes aimed at creating employment for citizens across the country.

The Ghanaian leader also said Ghana continues to be a beacon of stability and democracy on the African continent, adding that: “Our institutions of state are growing stronger, and we have made more progress in our economy than at any time since independence.

“We are nowhere near where we want to be, but we are determined to realise our potential and make Ghana a prosperous nation.”

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