Ghana is dedicated to using its membership on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to advocate the essential cause of international peace and security, according to Ambassador Kwabena Osei-Danquah, Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Ghana, he says, would draw on its many years of experience with the Council to push the UN and regional organisations to expand their cooperation in order to avoid and address transnational peace and security challenges.
"Ghana has made a significant contribution to world peace and security since independence." We contribute to the greater freedom the UN was designed to promote by being decent international citizens, which includes obeying international law.
We should expect the rest of the world to join us in addressing the issues we've put on the SC agenda. Whether it's the Sahel crisis or maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, we're carrying the world's load. Even for the Security Council, our modest objective is not overly ambitious," he remarked.
On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, he gave a public lecture on the topic "Collective Security in a Changing Global World Order: An Overview of Ghana's Tenure at the UNSC 2022-2023," organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD).
With threats of maritime piracy, terrorism, and violent extremist attacks rife in most parts of the world, particularly on the continent, Ghana's non-permanent member role on the Council seeks to get all hands on deck to share intelligence and put in place a collaborative security mechanism to counter these dangers, according to the seasoned career diplomat, who is also a former Chef de Cabinet to the President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly.
Ghana was chosen as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in June 2021 for a two-year period from January 2022 to December 2023, and will take up the chair of the Council in November of this year.
This will be Ghana's fourth term on the Council, the UN's only body with the power to impose binding resolutions on member states. President Akufo-Addo served as Foreign Minister in Ghana from 2006 to 2007.