Foreign Ministry celebrates 70th anniversary of the Commonwealth

General News of Thursday, July 18, 2019

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2019-07-18

The Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has joined her counterparts from Commonwealth member states around the world to commemorate the organization's 70th anniversary.

The celebration was held on the sidelines of the meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers held in London, United Kingdom, on July 10, 2019.

Formed in 1949, the Commonwealth is one of the oldest state political badociations in the world. Its roots go back to the British Empire, when some countries were governed directly or indirectly by Great Britain.

The London meeting discussed a number of issues, including: the implementation of the 2018 mandates of the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM), the 2020 updates, the decision on the Governing Council, the agreed recommendations for foreign ministers in response to the high-level summit. Group, Commonwealth Secretariat Governance Reports, Country Situations (Belize, Cyprus and Guyana), as well as on the future of the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers' Meetings (CFAMM).

In participating in the implementation of the 2018 mandates, Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs explained what Ghana was doing in the area of ​​girls' education.

The Minister informed the meeting that the Government of Ghana is committed to giving everyone equal opportunities to access education, stressing that girls' education has a significant impact on society and human development.

Ayorkor Botchwey explained "that Ghana is convinced that when girls are educated, they will make a significant contribution to health, social and economic development".

She also called attention to the daily abuse, discrimination and violence girls face and the need to protect them.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the issue of youth was particularly important as many Commonwealth countries were facing an increase in youth unemployment, hence the need for urgent action for to tackle the problem and stem the flow of African youth

perilous travels across the Mediterranean in search of greener pastures. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey pointed out that after Ghana's democratic transition in 1992, the country had made considerable efforts to promote a liberal and democratic culture and system of government.

She cited, for example, the independence of the Electoral Commission in holding free, fair and transparent elections in Ghana and the important role played by the media and civil society organizations in the country.

With regard to climate change, she underscored Ghana's unwavering commitment to the Paris Agreement, revealing that the country had put in place measures to mitigate, reduce vulnerability and increase resilience to climate change. devastating effects of the phenomenon.

Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey pointed out that the Government of Ghana has shown strong political will to tackle the problem of climate change, strengthening resilience and enhancing the ambition of its program of struggle against climate change. against climate change, as evidenced by the National Implementation Plan and Investment Plan defined the Paris Agreement, the President's coordinated program for economic and social development policies 2017-2024 (a Economic and Social Policy Regime to Create an Industrialized and Prosperous Nation) and the Basic Report on the Ghana Sustainable Development Goals Indicator, led by the President of the Republic of Ghana, who is Co-Chair of the Eminent Group on the Sustainable Development Goals.

She revealed that about 20,000 young people had been hired to plant more than 10 million trees in two years to restore degraded lands while creating much needed jobs for young people.

In the meantime, the CHOGM 2020 host, Rwanda, has identified five areas of action to ensure that the meeting results in achievable, comprehensive and meaningful initiatives.

They include governance and the rule of law; ICT and innovation; Youth; Environment and Trade and Development.

The meeting took note and congratulated the Rwandan government for choosing relevant issues for the Commonwealth. She also commended the Government of Rwanda for the proposed policy areas, in particular, and pledged Ghana's support for the success of the meeting in Rwanda.