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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called for the restructuring of the global financing architecture to allow access to fresh capital by developing nations in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and the havoc it has wreaked on their economies.
“The restructuring of the global financial architecture to allow access to fresh capital by developing nations, now more than ever, is an immediate necessity if the gains made in transforming economies are not going to erode and standards people’s lives should not be dangerously lowered, ”he said.
In a virtual address to the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, President Akufo-Addo called for swift reform of the world body to reflect Africa’s Common Position on UN Reform, as established in the Ezulwini Consensus.
“The time has come to adopt and endorse Africa’s common position on UN reform, as set out in the Ezulwini Consensus, so that we can create a modern United Nations that is fit for the purpose of our time,” he said. .
The Ezulwini Consensus is a position on international relations and the reform of the United Nations, agreed by the African Union. He calls for a more representative and democratic Security Council, in which Africa, like all other regions of the world, is represented.
President Akufo-Addo briefed the session on the political situation in the subregion and asked the UN and all member states to lend their support to the efforts being made by ECOWAS to restore normalcy in Mali and defeat the scourge of terrorism. .
He also reflected on Ghana’s important role in commemorating the 400th anniversary of the transatlantic slave trade in 2019, in which the country welcomed Diaspora Africans to its roots, adding: “We owe it to their descendants for finding a safe haven in Ghana. if they need it. “
He assured the United Nations of transparent, free, fair, safe and credible elections in Ghana in December, of which the continent would be proud.
“At the end of the elections, we will be proud of ourselves, Africa will have good reason to be proud of us, and the rest of the world will find lessons to learn from us,” he said.
The president told the world body it was a source of great pride that, despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, Ghanaians had agreed to work together to ensure that the elections proceeded as constitutionally scheduled.
He said the people of Ghana had decided to make the elections, the eighth since the 1992 constitutional rule, a peaceful and credible exercise.
He said that each of the elections had improved over the previous ones and that Ghana hoped to be able to conduct this year’s exercise in a peaceful manner.
“We are well aware of the reputation that Ghana has built as a tolerant and functional democracy, and we fully intend to nurture and enhance it,” he said.
Referring to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Akufo-Addo noted that the disease had affected, in one way or another, everyone and the world economy, but technology had been a useful tool to alleviate some of the the challenges it had posed. .
“In fact, all of our best laid plans have been rendered useless by the ravages of an unknown virus,” said the president, noting that “the virus has taught us that we are all at risk and there is no special protection for the rich or a class in particular “.
“The lessons are clear. We all fell together and looked into the abyss together. Even when we closed our borders and closed airports, we all realized the reality that we had to depend on each other to get out of the problem we were in. “
He said that if the answer to the pandemic was to find a vaccine, that vaccine should be available to everyone; rich and poor alike, developed and developing, all races and all beliefs.
“As long as the virus exists, any medical solutions that can be found must be available to all in aid of our common humanity,” he said.
The session had as theme: “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism – Confronting Covid-19 through effective multilateral action.”
