Ghana’s President, John Evans Atta Mills Made Debut

Ghana’s President, John Evans Atta Mills yesterday gave his maiden UN speech at the 64th Session of the General Assembly in New York. He used the occasion to draw the attention of the world body to the impact of the global financial crisis on African economies.

African countries, he said, will like to see the following:
• Rich countries making more effort to meet existing commitment on aid and debt reduction
• Accelerating disbursements and improving access to existing financial facilities
• Urging the International Monetary Fund to put in place a new facility with relaxed conditions to support African economies during this crisis period

• A capital increase for the African Development Bank to enable it to scale up its interventions in support of African development
• Sale of International Monetary Fund gold reserves to release additional resources to help developing countries deal with the financial crisis and
• Issuance of new special drawing rights

Below is the full text of the President’s address:
Mr. President,
Permit me to join previous speakers in congratulating you on your election as President of the 64th Session of the General Assembly. Your long and distinguished service to your country and Africa gives us the confidence that we
are in experienced and capable hands.

I also wish to express my delegation's appreciation to your predecessor, His
Excellency Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, for the able manner with which he presided over the 63rd Session of the General Assembly.

Mr. President, This year marks the centenary of the birth of an illustrious son of Ghana and Africa, our first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, under whose leadership Ghana became a member of the United Nations on March 8, 1957, only two days after achieving Independence.

We recall Dr. Nkrumah's proclamation before this august body on 23rd September, 1960, during the 15th Session, that "the United Nations was the only organization that holds out any hope for the future of mankind." It was at the same session that he also called for the reform of the Security Council in order to bring it in line with a rapidly changing world. More than forty years have since passed and those views remain relevant.

Mr. President, Then, as now, Africa faced deep crisis with profound and far-reaching implications for international peace and stability. Today, the combined effects of climate change, high food and energy prices and-the current financial and economic crisis threaten to erode the modest but hard earned economic growth and democratic achievements of the last two decades. Africa remains volatile and violent conflicts still persist.

Therefore, we must all support the United Nations and its regional allies, such as the African Union, to live up to these and other pressing challenges facing the international community. Mr. President, We acknowledge that globalization has expanded and accelerated economic interdependence among states. In contrast, the benefits of globalization have
been negligible in the majority of developing countries and their economies have not been transformed in any significant manner. Despite almost a decade of impressive growth of about 5 percent, only a few countries have been able to
reduce the proportion of their population living on less than US$1 per day.

Consequently, most of the countries remain susceptible to various external
shocks which continue to pose threats to their growth.
In fact, the over-reliance on high commodity prices and mineral exports has not
lessened but rather exposed the structural impediments to food security. This is
particularly true of sub-Saharan Africa where the on-going world financial and
economic crisis threatens to erode decades of modest growth and thereby make
the Millennium Development Goals unattainable in any meaningful way. Ghana,
therefore, reiterates her support for a global integration that ensures inclusive
and equitable development and effectively contributes to substantial poverty
alleviation, including full and productive employment as well as broad access to
social services.
A number of developing countries, including those in Africa, have taken various
steps to mitigate the impact of the financial crisi on their economies, including
interest rate reductions, recapitalization of financial institutions, increasing
liquidity to banks, trade policy changes, and regulatory reforms. In Ghana, fiscal
restraint has been exercised in response to the crisis, including cutting all low
priority public spending and shifting the balance from recurrent expenditure to
infrastructure investment.
In addressing the impact of crisis on their economies, African countries will like
to see:
• Rich countries making more effort to meet existing commitments
on aid and debt reduction
• Accelerating disbursements and improving access to existing
financial facilities
• Urging the International Monetary Fund to put in place a new
facility with relaxed conditions to support African economies during
this crisis period
• A capital increase for the African Development Bank to enable it to
scale up its interventions in support of African development
• Sale of International Monetary Fund gold reserves to release
additional resources to help developing countries deal with the
financial crisis and
• Issuance of new special drawing rights
Mr. President,
International trade carries enormous potential for reducing poverty and driving
economic growth that can lift millions of people out of poverty. The ongoing
Doha Trade Round is committed, at least in principle, to improve market access
2
for poor countries. This commitment is very important, especially in low-skill and
labour-intensive sectors such as garment manufacturing where most African
exports come from.
Sustained economic growth requires that poor countries increase their exports to
the rich countries. 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. Trade-distorting subsidies, as well as tariff and non-tariff barriers
instituted by most advanced countries have denied market access to African
products. For developing countries like Ghana a meaningful liberalization must
be accompanied by predictable access to markets, eliminating abuse of antidumping
measures and the reduction of tariffs and non-tariff barriers.

Continues*********

Source: accra-mail.com