By Eric Appah Marfo
Accra, Sept.11, GNA — Mr Thomas Mbomba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has called on Czech Republic to collaborate with Ghana to respond decisively to new threats to Global Peace and Security.
He said Ghana would continue to use its tenure at the Security Council to advocate for Global Peace and Security for sustainable and inclusive development.
Some emerging threats to Global Peace and Security include terrorism, piracy, illicit arms, drugs and human trafficking.
Mr Mbomba, also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatale-Sanguli in the Northern Region of Ghana, made the call during an official working visit to Prague, Czech Republic from September 6, 2022 to September 9, 2022.
The Deputy Minister held discussions with his Czech counterpart, Mr Martin Tlapa, on bilateral and multilateral issues of interest to Ghana, as the Czech Republic has taken up the Presidency of the European Union Council.
At the bilateral level, Mr Mbomba noted that strong bonds of friendship and partnership existed between the two countries, dating back to the late 60’s.
He said these relations had further been strengthened with the exchange of high-level visits from both sides.
The MP also said that at the multilateral level, the long-standing tradition of cooperation between the two countries in various international fora.
This, he said included support for each other’s candidatures for positions at various multilateral institutions and called for such cooperation to continue.
The Deputy Minister said Ghana’s priorities as a non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council included working with other United Nation (UN) member states to ensure that the UN Security Council decisively responded to the new threats to Global Peace and Security.
He said such responses included a balanced focus on the root causes of conflict, more effective peacekeeping mandates and burden sharing between the UN and Regional Organisations such as ECOWAS, through sustainable funding by the UN for the fight against terrorism, piracy, illicit arms, drugs, human trafficking, violent extremism and addressing climate insecurity.
Mr Mbomba informed his counterpart that the assumption of the Presidency of the European Union (EU) Council by the Czech Republic provided more opportunities for both countries to work closely together on issues of common interest.
He said the EU was an invaluable partner for international peace and security, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.
On the situation in the Sahel Region and Gulf of Guinea, the Deputy Minister stressed that Ghana had always been actively involved in ECOWAS and AU deliberations, including efforts at resolving regional conflicts on the continent.
He said Ghana did not only have strong interest in the afore-mentioned issues, but was also committed to working with its partners, including Czech Republic.
The MP said the complexity of the problem demanded cooperation and capacity building to enable the countries address the menace.
“Ghana is seriously committed to the fight and is calling on the Czech Republic to support efforts aimed at strengthening our capacity to contribute to the improvement of the security situation in the Region, particularly by implementing preventive counter-terrorism strategies,” he said.
He said the Political Climate remained fragile in these regions and had been characterised by religious and communal tensions, general climate of insecurity and recent coup d’états.
The Deputy Minister said the growing instability in the Sahel was also a growing threat to Coastal Regions and Ghana and ECOWAS counted on the support of Czech Republic towards resolving the issues.
He recalled to his Czech counterpart the Accra Initiative and the ECOWAS Security plan and the efforts under Ghana’s leadership to put in place an ECOWAS force to take the fight to terrorists.
The Deputy Minister said ECOWAS and Ghana, during Ghana’s tenure as ECOWAS chair, were committed to funding the operations out of their own resources but faced challenges due to the budget crunch most ECOWAS States were facing.
He therefore called for the need for burden sharing with partners in Europe and North America especially, including the areas of intelligence, logistics, capabilities, training and deployment.
GNA