The country beat other African countries, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo to earn a seat on the UN Security Council following voting that took place on June 11, 2021.
Ghana first held the seat during the 1962-1963 term before regaining it two decades later for the 1986-1987 term, and then for the third time from 2006-2007.
The African continent’s two largest bodies ECOWAS and the African Union have declared their support for Ghana after the enviable win.
Ghana has played various vital roles at the UN over the years including that of Kofi Annan who served as UN Secretary-General and other Ghanaian nationals serving with distinction in the global body since the sixties.
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There are two non-permanent seats available for the Africa region.
China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are the only five permanent members of the UN and have the right to veto resolutions.
The 10 non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, with five elected each year.
Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey expressed gladness about Ghana’s return to the global body, saying the opportunity would be used to address the African continent’s pressing issues.
“Ghana will use its membership to pursue conflict prevention, post-conflict reconstruction and strengthening of governance, leveraging on our previous and current experience as Chair of ECOWAS as well as our active membership of AU,” she is quoted as saying.
Ghana had votes 185 out of the 190 ballots cast.
The required majority was 125.
Gabon -183
UAE - 179
DRC - 3
Iran – 1
In another Ghana-related story, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed that the national tree planting project dubbed ‘Green Ghana’ will become an annual event.
The President said this when he planted the first tree to kick off the project in Accra.
He said "deforestation and forest degradation are the greatest challenges to sustainable forest management in Ghana” and such trends needed to be reversed immediately.
Nana Akufo-Addo said: "Today's nationwide exercise will not be a one-off exercise, we intend to enhance the ongoing afforestation programme, and see to the sustainable exploitation of our forest resources."
The Green Ghana programme, which commenced today [Friday, June 11, 2021] is aimed at planting at least five million trees across Ghana by the various government institutions and agencies as well as the citizenry.
The initiative is part of the government’s efforts to restore the country’s depleting forest cover as well as part of measures to mitigate the impact of climate change in the country.
President Akufo-Addo said the effects of deforestation and forest degradation "is severe climate change, which has dire consequences for our livelihoods."
For him, there is an urgent need to reverse the trend of forest deforestation and forest degradation to restore the country's forest resources.
He said there is no time to waste in restoring the country's forests, saying "we do not have tomorrow...we have to act now."