Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has made a passionate appeal to the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) to institute annual peacekeeping lectures in honour of Kofi Annan, the late former General Secretary of the UN.
According to him, Kofi Annan who served the UN and the world from 1997 to 2006 has left an indelible impression in the history of peacebuilding that the world cannot cease to celebrate.
Mr. Annan’s activism, he said, was a driving force in implementing and developing the concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), an international principle that carefully incorporates contemporary ideologies necessitated by the new age of international relations.
Making the call in a statement he read on the floor of Parliament on Thursday 18th November 2021, Hon. Annoh-Dompreh noted that the motive behind the call is the wish to instil in generations elements of Mr. Annan’s character and give hope to all who aspire to positively impact society as he did.
He said, “Throughout the past and present Kofi Annan has been a great torch bearer of Ghana who amplified Ghana’s act of Peace-building and conflict resolution before, during and after his position as a UN Secretary-General.”
“Mr. Speaker, Kofi Annan did not only advocate for peace in the times of conflict but supported and spearheaded many humanitarian initiatives including the establishment of two intergovernmental bodies; the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in 2005.”
He averred that an annual memorial lecture is needed to immortalize the peaceful approach and diplomatic skills of Kofi Annan while at the same time encouraging peaceful coexistence in international relations among nations.
According to him, given the rich content of the activities in conflict resolution engineered by Mr. Annan, the lectures will package those experiences for assimilation by younger diplomats and international actors in today’s global politics.
He averred that Kofi Annan would always be remembered for his role at the UN on the Rwandan genocide in 1994 even though he was not the Secretary-General at the time.
“As Secretary-General during the investigation, Kofi Annan most importantly accepted responsibility for the turn of events and poised himself to ensure the prevention and reoccurrence of such a dreadful event.”
“He sought to do this by reforming the UN to be mandated and equipped for the kind of forceful action needed to prevent genocide,” he added.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh averred that this venture will follow a well-defined organisational plan with relevant local actors and specified target audiences in academia, corporate institutions, public servants and government officials to include a host of activities that ensure the impartation of knowledge and the birth and promotion of individual ideas to support the peace model that will live on in the heart of the African continent from which it originated in Kofi Annan.
“I, therefore, make this call to all from this honourable House, to take steps to institute memorial lectures on the peace model of Kofi Annan,” he added.
Source: Mypublisher24.com/Osumanu Al-Hassan