By Ernest Nutsugah
Accra, Nov. 24, GNA – Mr Tom Norring, Ambassador of Denmark to Ghana, has asked stakeholders in various sectors to support global efforts towards attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He stressed the importance of deepening collaborations for the SDGs as the world was lagging on the mission to achieve “a prosperous and sustainable future”.
“The development goals are about combating poverty, doing something about hunger, health, education, decent economy, and about making it into the next decade and the next century.
“We want to see a future for all our kids so if we don’t see progress on the SDGs, the planet will be in trouble soon. We need to work hard at all levels…schools and other educational systems, private sector, governments and private citizens need to take things seriously,” he said.
Mr Norring was speaking on the sidelines when the Denmark Embassy hosted Impaction, a Danish non-governmental organisation, on a global tour to Ghana with the aim of creating awareness about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The work of Impaction, the Ambassador said, was in line with the Embassy’s commitment to promoting the SDGs in which partnership remained a key component.
He said countries, including Ghana, continued to face several developmental challenges, hence the need for Civil Society Organisations, NGOs and private citizens to work together to find solutions.
Mr Norring pledged the support of the Danish government for Ghana on the SDGs and said the Embassy would continue to work through its Strategic Sector Cooperation in Maritime, Water, Statistics and Meteorology to make “collaborative partnerships to target specific SDGs”.
As part of efforts to strengthen the relationship between Denmark and Ghana, he stated that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed between the Denmark Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy and the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong.
The Denmark Embassy together with Impaction, as part of the tour, conducted a workshop at Manhean Secondary Technical School at Tema New Town to create awareness about the SDGs and how students could turn the SDGs into everyday actions.
Guests from academia, business and civil society organisations attended the gathering at the Embassy on Thursday to help push the SDG agenda.
The Global Tour by Impaction came along with the World’s Most Travelled Hotdog Stand, which has journeyed through 19 countries on five continents.
Ms Theresa Blegvad, Chief Executive Officer of Impaction, said the Organisation was looking for more local partners for the SDGs in Ghana as it planned to travel to other countries, including Rwanda.
She said many people at all levels were passionate about the SDG agenda, and that the Organisation was looking forward to training more young people to take action towards achieving the goals.
Ms Fanny Possect, Co-founder of Impaction, who has been travelling with the Hotdog Stand for the past twenty years, said the journey had been fruitful as more people joined the movement for the SDGs.
“We have met new change agents for the SDGs, and I think the real result of this will come afterwards, The Hotdog Stand is to gather people and to create partnerships,” she said.
GNA