Ghana marks UN Day with flag raising ceremony
A flag raising ceremony to mark the 69th UN Day celebration was held at the forecourt of the State House in Accra yesterday with a call for improved early warning systems and measures to prevent conflicts from occurring.
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The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Mahama Ayariga, who made the call, said the cost of post-conflict rebuilding was too high. “It is to this end that the Government of Ghana reaffirms its commitment to the maintenance of peace and security in the country and in the sub-region as a whole,” he said.
Mr Ayariga and the UNAIDS Country Representative, Mr Girmay Haile, who represented the acting UN Resident Coordinator, Ms Susan Namondo Ngongi, raised the flags of Ghana and the UN respectively.
The celebration, which has the global theme, “Global citizenship and youth” was celebrated in Ghana on the local theme, “Youth engagement for effective nation building.”
Mr Ayariga said since President John Dramani Mahama assumed the chairmanship of ECOWAS, Ghana had continued to champion the cause of peace and security in the sub-region to foster the right environment for sustainable development.
Role of youth
Touching on the theme, Mr Ayariga said the occasion had provided the government the opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to engage the youth who are the future leaders to be more productive in national development.
“But to be able to do that our youth must be educated and trained. An educated youth is our most precious asset and capital,” he said.
He said the youth of today were open to the world of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which was an opportunity, if properly directed; “and a danger, without proper academic, civic and historical education.”
Mr Ayariga said the youth could only be engaged or mobilised for nation building, if they were well-educated, informed and empowered.
He said that was why the government had developed and implemented a number of interventions targeted at the youth.
He named the Local Enterprises and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP) and the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) as some of the successful interventions and said, even though bedevilled with some administrative challenges, they had provided entrepreneurial skills to make some youth productive and responsible members of the society.
On the Ebola virus, Mr Ayariga said “Ebola, being a global challenge, could only be tackled globally and reassured the new UN Mission for Emergency Ebola Response (UNMEER) that Ghana was ready to cooperate to execute its mandate.
UN Secretary-General’s message
Presenting a message from the UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Mr Haile said millions of people continued to suffer deplorable exploitation through bonded labour, human trafficking, sexual slavery or unsafe conditions in factories, fields and mines.
He said the UN Secretary-General’s message highlighted the challenges which the multiple on-going crises were posing to people across the world.
Mr Haile commended Ghana for her role in UN peacekeeping, stating that currently Ghana was contributing 3,000 military troops, experts and personnel to UN peacekeeping missions in trouble spots, ranking the country among the top 10 contributing countries.
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