Accra, Feb. 25, GNA - A representative of the Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II has presented to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the Kumasi Declaration on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's).
The Declaration, a gesture of support by the Asantehene to the President's global role as Co-Chair of the Eminent Group of Advocates for the SDGs, seeks among other things to address the need for the government to create the enabling environment for traditional and religious leaders, civil society, the youth and the public and Private sectors to attain the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
"His Majesty wants me to emphasize that the Kumasi Declaration represents our modest contribution to ongoing international discuss on how best to facilitate the attainment of the 17 goals (SDG's) within the prescribed time frame of 50 years," said the Otumfuo's representative, Nana Effah Apenteng, the Bomoata Manhene when he made the presentation at a brief ceremony at the Jubilee House in Accra on Monday.
Nana Apenteng intimated that the Declaration was the end product of deliberations of a ROYAL Dialogue on the SDG's at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi under the patronage of the Asantehene, who engaged business leaders and selected eminent personalities to brainstorm on key imperatives for achieving the 2030 Agenda.
The Declaration is also to honour Ghanaian statesman and former Secretary General of the United Nations, Busumuru Kofi Annan for his central role in shaping the SDG's and other developmental agenda including the Millennium Development Goals and the United Nations Global Compact with Business.
President Akufo-Addo expressed his appreciation to the Asantehene for the "excellent initiative", which would strengthen his resolve to ensure that Ghana attains the SDG's.
"I am happy about the outcome of the Kumasi declaration. It strengthens my hand, particularly my role as Co-chair of the Secretary General's Eminent Group of Advocate that I can bring to the table, something which is uniquely Ghanaian in terms of the mixture of the various elements that have gone into it.
"I believe that if we are able to sustain these kinds of initiatives within our own modest resources, we can find a strong weapon and mechanism for advancing the goals of these SDGs," he stated.
The President said though the SDGs represented a global agenda, it's universal nature ultimately translated itself to specific individual and national contributions.
"So, Ghana can use this (Kumasi Declaration) as a back up to its work on the SDGs... it means that we can get a serious hand on how to move forward in this regard," he noted.
He praised also the religious leaders for supporting the SDG cause.
The declaration urges the Government to enhance mechanism for mobilising domestic resources in support of the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as create innovative and blended financing structures that can integrate public investment with traditional corporate financing.
To tackle gender inequality, the declaration affirmed support for women entrepreneurship as a part of broader programme on the empowerment of women and increased investment in education and training particularly girls.
On education, the declaration urged government to develop 2030 Agenda for SDG awareness and engagement learning module for delivery at the SHSs through trained teachers as well as programmes that unleash the potential of the youth to make direct contribution to the SDG.
The Asantehene's delegation presented a commemorative plaque to the President.
GNA
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