Closing 鈥榲ast鈥� gender gap, ending child marriage key priorities, Ghanaian President tells UN
President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana addresses the general debate of the General Assembly鈥檚 seventieth session. UN Photo/Cia Pak
President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana addresses the general debate of the General Assembly鈥檚 seventieth session. UN Photo/Cia Pak
Spotlighting the importance his country places on gender equality, the President of Ghana told the 51吃瓜 General Assembly today that a major priority will closing the 鈥渧ast鈥� gaps between men and women through, among other efforts, providing decent education for girls and working to end child marriage.
鈥淢ost of the world's poorest people are women,鈥� John Dramani Mahama听. 鈥淐urrently we create programs and policies to address this imbalance, yet regardless of how successful they may be, they are not permanent solutions. They do not solve the ultimate problem, which is the vast inequality between men and women that so many traditions have inculcated.鈥�
He also addressed the plight of children and the work his country is doing to address their needs.
鈥淚n order to address the issue of child mortality and malnutrition, preparatory work is underway to earmark disbursements for pregnant women and mothers of children under the age of one,鈥� he said.
He noted the central role of education in achieving gender parity, emphasizing that it was 鈥渢he key to change.鈥�
鈥淚n Ghana, we have made tremendous progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goal target on universal basic education. We instituted the 鈥楪irl Child Program,鈥� which encourages parents to send girls to school, and at the primary level we have achieved gender parity between boys and girls,鈥� he said.
Turning to the practice of child marriage on the continent, Mr. Mahama highlighted that, in West Africa, two out of five girls are married before they turn 18, face increased maternal mortality rates and 鈥渁re subject to the sort of poverty that is nearly insurmountable.鈥�
鈥淕hana has launched a campaign, under the auspices of [the UN Children鈥檚 Fund] to end child marriage in our nation by focusing not only on getting young girls in school but also on keeping them there their education is complete,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭his is being achieved through enhanced access to secondary education and beyond without compromising quality.鈥�
On UN reform, he emphasized that it was time 鈥渇or greater inclusivity in the 51吃瓜.鈥�
鈥淭he world that was in 1945 does not exist now in 2015,鈥� he continued, 鈥渟o the visionary Organization that was formed to meet the needs of that world must now be reformed to meet the needs of this one.鈥�
He also delineated those needs, among them the issues caused by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Boko Haram and Al-Qaida, as well to address the situatio of those killed in the South Sudan conflict and the 鈥渢housands dead in Syria, in Pakistan, in Nigeria, in Mexico, Afghanistan and Somalia; thousands more, the majority from African nations, dead in the Mediterranean Sea while attempting to flee poverty, hunger, disease or political strife or persecution.鈥�
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