The United Nations Resident Coordinator to Ghana, Sylvia Lopez-Ekra, has paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
She was accompanied by other Heads of UN agencies in Ghana during the Thursday, March 12, 2020 visit.
In her deliberations with the Resident Coordinator and her team, the Minister acknowledged the efforts of the UN Resident Coordinator in scheduling a meeting to deliberate on the partnership between the United Nations and the Government of Ghana at the beginning of the year.
She observed that the timing was a good opportunity to review the relationship between the two parties.
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey
took the opportunity to congratulate the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for coordinating a successful UNDP Senior Management Cluster Meeting in Accra in the latter part of 2019.
She stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration continues to play the vital role of coordinating the activities between the United Nations Agencies and the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Republic of Ghana.
She underscored the need for a dialogue between the United Nations Country Team and the Government of Ghana (MDAs) each year to ascertain the areas of priority of the Government and the level of assistance and coordination that may be available in respect of the Five-Year Partnership Programme targeting the achievement of the SDGs.
Furthermore, she expressed appreciation for the continued technical support of United Nations to the Government of Ghana and emphasized that the cooperation between the two sides could be enhanced through dialogue to address the peculiar needs of Government towards the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
She observed that there are areas of concerns that each UN Agency may have with respective MDAs under their purview.
She noted with appreciation the development of Ghana’s Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (CPESDP) for 2017-2024, which is based on the sustainable development goals (SDGs), from which the UN Country Team developed and adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Partnership (UNSDP) 2018-2022;
Human Rights
She explained that Ghana remains committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights of all persons in Ghana and will continue to be engaged on the matter in the multilateral sphere.
She said the efforts of the Government in adhering the tenets of treaties to which it is State Party and in that regard recalled the cooperation extended to the United Nations Sub Committee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment (SPT), during their visit to Ghana from 26th May to 1st June, 2019.
She indicated that the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department and allied Government Departments and Agencies together with the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were currently examining the recommendations made to Ghana during the third cycle of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Further, the Minister indicated that the delegation of Ghana is currently participating in the 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council and has thus far engaged on several matters of concern particularly in-country human rights situations.
Migration
Touching on migration, she lauded the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for assisting the Government of Ghana to develop the Standard Operating Procedures for Reintegration of Returnees in Ghana and acknowledge the collaboration between the organization and the Ministry, particularly through our Missions abroad.
HIV/AIDS
She said that after Ghana’s chairmanship of the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) of UNAIDS in 2017, the delegation of Ghana in Geneva and New York have always engaged on matters related to the fight against HIV/AIDS; and
The Minister informed the UN Country Team that Ghana was Vice-Chair of the Programme Coordinating Board of UNAIDS in 2016 at the adoption of the last Political Declaration on HIV/AID and particularly assured the Country Director of UNAIDS that Ghana will remain engaged in the negotiation process of the resolution by the Committee on the Status of Women on women, the girl child and HIV and AIDS.
BY Melvin Tarlue