The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) today, Friday, 11 June 2021, elected Ghana to serve a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council.

Ghana will serve from January 2022 to December 2023.

A statement indicated that Ghana secured 185 votes out of the 190 votes cast, the highest compared to the four other member states that were elected.

Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, cast Ghana’s vote.

“Ghana congratulates Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Albania and Gabon for their respective successful elections and look forward to working closely with all the new members of the Council when our tenure commences in January 2022”, the statement said.

“The endorsement of the African Union and the ECOWAS is deeply appreciated. With situations in Africa dominating the agenda of the Security Council, we vow to work assiduously to assist in addressing the conflicts on the continent and sustain the peace the people of Africa need. As is well known, issues on Africa constitute 70 per cent of the Security Council’s agenda,” the statement indicated.

The statement continued: “The statement continued: Ghana also thanks all other Member States for their confidence in Ghana’s candidacy. The broad support for Ghana confirms the trust Member States have in our membership of the Council and Ghana’s capacity to help address the challenges confronting our world today, including violent extremism, terrorism, malicious cyber threats, illicit trafficking of arms, climate change, etc.

“The effective leadership being demonstrated by Ghana’s President, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as Chair of ECOWAS provides synergy for our membership of the Security Council, particularly in addressing the conflict situations in some parts of the West Africa region and the Sahel. Ghana will bring to bear on the work of the Council her experience in conflict mediation, prevention and reconstruction,” adding that: “Ghana will also use her tenure on the Security Council to seek for a stronger and deeper collaboration and cooperation between the United Nations and regional bodies in a manner that enhances complementarity and ensures effectiveness of coordinated action”.

The statement said “as indicated during our campaign, Ghana’s tenure on the Council will focus on enhancing global peace and security for sustainable and inclusive development”.

Some of our priorities will include:

                        i.         Commitment to placing the critical agenda of conflict prevention, post-conflict reconstruction and multilateralism at the heart of UN peace and security agenda;

                      ii.         Promotion of Human Rights, sustainable development, peace and security in advancing the work of the Security Council, especially at a time when the United Nations is mobilising all Member States towards combating the COVID-19 pandemic;

                     iii.         Advocacy for the implementation of the actions recommended by the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, such as improved strategic planning, better force generation, enhanced safety and security and strengthened efforts to combat sexual exploitation and abuse;

                     iv.         Strengthening partnerships between the United Nations and continental and regional organizations such as the African Union and ECOWAS in conflict prevention, peacekeeping operations and special political missions; and

                       v.         Addressing conflicts caused by environmental factors such as land degradation, desertification, drought and climate change.