Ghana and Japan agree to pursue UN Security Council reforms

Ghana and Japan on Monday agreed to work together to pursue reforms of the United Nations Security Council.
They have also denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, insisting that the aggression by the “big power” violated Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and must be stopped.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at a joint press conference in Accra pledged to work towards the peaceful resolution of conflicts and to promote global peace and security for sustainable development around the globe.

They also agreed to work to maintain a free and open international order based on the rule of law, and push, as non-permanent members of the Security Council, for the functionality of the United Nations to “reflect the changed circumstances of the world.”

The two leaders harped on the importance of providing transparent and fair development finance to developing nations.
They agreed that economic growth “cannot be achieved without peace and stability.”

Mr Kishida is in Ghana for a two-day state visit to shore up ties between the two countries.
He is on a tour of four African nations- Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and Mozambique- for talks with their leaders ahead of the G7 Summit scheduled for May 19, 2023, in Hiroshima, Japan.

The Prime Minister before his tour, said he wanted to confirm cooperation with African leaders over global issues including the situation in Ukraine.

President Akufo-Addo said Ghana’s position was against great power domination of world affairs.
He said Ghana had voted at the UN Security Council to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and “It is a position we continue to hold.”

“Great powers trampling on small nations are not something that we welcome. Within our modest means we will register our disapproval of that,” he said.

The President assured Kishida that Ghana would continue to collaborate with Japan to find solutions to widespread poverty, migration, insecurity and human rights violations terrorism and violent extremism, human and drug trafficking and piracy, as well as climate change.

He stated that his visit to Ghana had boosted “the steadfast cooperation between the two countries and Ghana would continue to associate with Japan at levels particularly towards the peaceful resolution of conflicts and in the search for global peace and security to promote sustainable development around the globe.”

Mr Kishida who stressed the importance of a free and open international order based on the rule of law, insisted that actions such as Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine denied “even the basic principles of the UN Charter such as of Sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be tolerated.”

He said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was unacceptable, insisting that “nowhere in this world is there a place where a unilateral change of status quo is recognized.”

The Japanese PM agreed to work closely with his Ghanaian counterpart to coordinate security council reforms.
He stressed the need for both parties to work to address the ongoing conflict in Sudan, pledging to provide about $500 million in financial support to Africa over the next three years to promote peace and stability on the continent.

Mr Kishida was hopeful that his visit would boost political and economic relations, cultural and people-to-people exchanges as well as cooperation at the multilateral level.

As part of his visit, Ghana and Japan exchanged notes for two project agreements geared at boosting food security and strengthening human resources for Ghana’s national development.

The agreements are for enhancing rice seed production capacity and the Project for Human Resource Development Scholarships (JDS).

The project for the enhancement of rice seed production capacity is expected to improve the quality of rice supplied and quantity distribution within the rice value chain in Ghana.

The support will help the government to boost rice production to make Ghana self-sufficient in rice.
The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarships will help build the capacity of officials from various Government institutions.

Under the arrangement, officials will undertake studies in Japan in strategically important sectors of the economy notably, public economics, education, health, energy, and infrastructure among others.