Help Africa Deal With Financial Problems - President Mills

President John Evans Atta Mills

yesterday stressed the need for rich countries to put in more effort to meet existing commitments to aid and debt reduction to African economies.

He said they should also accelerate disbursement of and access to existing financial facilities in order to ease the impact of the global financial crisis on African economies.

'Unfortunately, the current global trading system discriminates against developing countries, hinders their participation in the global economy and damages the earning opportunities of farmers and rural communities in poor countries,' he stressed

In his address to the UN General Assembly during its 64th session, President Mills said trade-distorting subsidies, as well as tariff and non-tariff barriers instituted by most advanced countries, had denied market access to African products.

It was on the theme: “Effective Response to global crises, strengthening multilateralism and dialogue among civilisation for international peace, security and development.'

He said sustained economic growth required that poor countries increased their exports to the rich countries. President Mills told the world leaders that his government had made a giant stride aimed at mitigating the impact of the global financial crisis on the country's economy.

He said fiscal restraint had been exercised in response to the crisis, including cutting down public spending and shifting the balance from recurrent expenditure to infrastructure investment.

'For developing countries like Ghana, a meaningful liberalisation must be accompanied by predictable access to markets, eliminating abuse of anti-dumping measures and the reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers,' he said. President Mills said in the face of all these developments, Africa acknowledged that its efforts at achieving

sustainable, social and economic development essentially depended on 'our commitment to good governance'.

He said in spite of the difficult challenges, leaders across the continent had embraced democratic values, except in a few cases, where narrow self-interest of leaders were threatening the commendable gains of the last decades.

'We are also confronted with grave risks posed by climate change to environmental, social and economic development. The need for concrete, timely and decisive measures to enable us to cope with this large man-made problem is obvious and must not be deferred any longer,' the President stressed.

President Mills said rather than being discouraged by those shortcomings, Ghana remained unwavering in the conviction that though daunting, the challenge to the comity of nations could be surmounted through innovative, bold, realistic and achievable decisions.

On Ghana’s role in peacekeeping, the President said Ghana, as one of the oldest and consistent troop contributing countries, deemed it a matter of honour and privilege to be associated with the success story of the UN.

'It is for this reason that we applaud and renew our support for the reform process which has so far yielded fruitful dividends, although further improvements are required if we are to achieve the ultimate goal,' he said.

On the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which falls next year, President Mills said the huge gap between policy and practice and the uneven progress in implementing the international commitments on gender equality and empowerment of women heightened the importance of creating an enabling environment, through a more coherent, integrated and multi-sectoral approach.

He said over the years, Ghana had spared no effort in the implementation of those goals and objectives, adding that the Government was actively pursuing an affirmative action policy which sought to ensure 40 per cent representation of women in decision-making positions.

'We have made gains to this end as lucidly testified by the appointment of the first female Speaker of Parliament, female minister with responsibility for Women and Children’s Affairs, and females as ministers of Justice and Attorney-General; Trade and Industry; Environment and Science; Information, and Tourism, as well as many female deputy ministers.

President Mills, however, noted with regret that conflicts, particularly in the developing world, had robbed the continent of the opportunity to improve the circumstances of its people, stressing that sustainable development could only be achieved in an international environment characterised by peace and security.

'Ghana, therefore, wishes to reiterate her commitment to the ideals of the UN and will continue to live up to its charter obligations and together with member states assist this organisation in its task of maintaining global peace and security,' President Mills said.

He said Ghana believed that the UN remained the ideal multilateral instrument available for maintaining international peace and security and for promoting a fruitful international co-operation.

Story: Timothy Gobah