The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, together with senior officials of the United Nations, have announced that Ghana will host the 2023 United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting in Accra, Ghana, from 5th to 6th December 2023.

The announcement was made during a press launch at the United Nations Secretariat in New York on Friday, 22nd September, 2023.

Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was joined by the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, Ms. Catherine Pollard, and the Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, Mr. Atul Khare.

In her opening remarks, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, stated that the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting will help secure the much-needed political support and pledges aimed at strengthening UN Peacekeeping in line with the Action for Peacekeeping and Action for Peacekeeping-Plus which are the implementation strategies for 2021 to 2023.

She said "these are essential for improving the effectiveness of modern day peacekeeping and tackling the security challenges of our time".

The Minister further added that the meeting would provide an opportunity to explore ways by which Member States can generate high-performing and specialised capabilities and other pledges that meet UN needs as well as new or expanded, sustainable capacity-building, training, and equipping partnerships in key areas.

The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix in his address stated that the 2023 Ministerial Meeting is an important opportunity for leaders to reaffirm their commitment and make pledges to UN Peacekeeping, which remains one of the most significant multilateral tools to achieving sustainable peace and development. "We are grateful to Ghana for hosting this Ministerial meeting and for the critical contributions to strengthening our operations” he added.

The 2023 Ministerial meeting will focus on issues such as protection of civilians, strategic communications and addressing misinformation and disinformation, safety and security, the mental health of uninformed peacekeepers, and women in peacekeeping.

The 2023 Meeting will be the fifth UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting and the first to be held in Africa.