
Mrs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Foreign Minister
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has requested the support of Maldives’s ahead of the United Nations Security Council election today.
During a meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, she said Ghana and Maldives share similar aspirations, which is an expression of the unwavering commitment of the two countries to the multilateral system and institutions.
Ms Botchwey indicated that as a candidate vying for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, it is important to share Ghana’s priorities and also exchange ideas on areas of possible collaboration to advance the work of the Council.
Additionally, she enumerated Ghana’s priorities for its tenure on the Council. These include efforts to address conflicts caused by environmental factors such as land degradation, desertification, drought and climate change.
Ms Botchwey congratulated Mr Shahid on the emphatic win to the post of President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
She assured of Ghana’s readiness and willingness to collaborate with him during his Presidency of the General Assembly.
Terrorism
During her engagement with ECOWAS Group in New York, Ms Botchwey made mention of a number of priorities to the country.
“Ghana also intends to pursue a number of priorities, including conflict prevention, post-conflict reconstruction and strengthening of governance, leveraging on our previous and current experience as Chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as well as our active membership of the African Union (AU),” she said.
According to her, the evidence shows that global challenges, including insecurity, can be better managed when placed within their specific regional contexts.
“In this regard, we will encourage the further deepening of cooperation between the UN and continental and regional organisations to help achieve effective results. We support the ongoing partnerships between the UN and other regional arrangements such as the AU and ECOWAS in tackling security challenges. We will call for more of such complementarity,” she said.
She referred to the recent upsurge of maritime piracy in the West Africa region as well as the situation in Mali and Chad, saying “it goes to show that more concerted effort is required to stabilise governance systems in our countries.”
Climate change
The Foreign and Regional Integration Minister furthermore re-echoed that should Ghana be elected to the Council, it will commit to climate change.
“We are committed to highlighting the effects of climate change on the economic, human and security situation in many parts of the continent, including the Sahel and Lake Chad,” she said.
On trade, Ms Botchwey urged the group to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the respective regional integration agendas on the continent “in order to crystalise the socio-economic development of the African continent and her stability and durable peace and security.”