The
Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho has asked his fellow
Speakers of Parliament to ensure that “the will of ordinary people find
expression in the discourse for setting national, regional and global
priorities”.
Speaking at the 4th Speakers of World Parliaments
Conference at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Hon Doe
Adjaho re-echoed the commitment of the speakers to make the greatest
difference in the successful implementation of various agreed
objectives.
This year’s conference was on the theme: “Placing
Democracy at the Service of Peace and Sustainable Development: Building
the World the People Want”
Read a copy of his statement below
STATEMENT
BY THE RT.HON. MR. EDWARD DOE ADJAHO, SPEAKER OF THE PARLIAMENT OF
GHANA, AT THE FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE OF SPEAKERS OF PARLIAMENT , NEW
YORK, 31ST AUGUST TO 2ND SEPTEMBER 2015
Mr President,
Mr Secretary-General,
Distinguished Fellow Speakers of Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It
is a great honour and privilege for me to be part of this august
gathering of distinguished colleagues at this crucial period when the
United Nations is at the forefront of global efforts to define key
agreements that will shape the future of the world. Barely 30 days from
this moment, leaders of the world, including some of us here today,
would converge on these very premises to launch the new universal
blueprint for international cooperation to guide humanity on a path of
sustainable development, embodying a collective vision for attaining the
world we wish to bequeath to future generations.
The theme for
the general debate of this conference “Placing Democracy at the Service
of Peace and Sustainable Development: Building the World the People
Want” is therefore very timely and offers us the opportunity to begin
the process of how we will proceed with the incorporation of this all
very important development agenda into our various national development
policies.
As leaders of Parliaments all over the world, we are
united in our common objective of ensuring that the will of ordinary
people find expression in the discourse for setting national, regional
and global priorities. This commonality of purpose places on us a unique
responsibility in supporting and ensuring the successful actualization
of agreed priorities, especially in view of our legislative, financial,
representational, deliberative and oversight responsibilities.
Collectively, we are poised to make the greatest difference in the
successful implementation of agreed objectives.
Mr. President,
Our
specific role in this new agenda is clearly spelt out and as we gather
here in our joint endeavour to adopt our declaration which seeks to
address the many problems that face our world today, lets resolve and
commit to go back to our countries with a shared responsibility of
making sure that this development agenda is successfully implemented in
various countries.
It is our duty as leaders of our various
national Parliaments to forge the necessary consensus to translate this
vision into concrete actions. As our most immediate priority, we would
have to begin preparations to align our laws to facilitate the
successful implementation of the Agenda, putting in place measures to
plug in gaps where such gaps exist.
Mr. President,
Central
to the success of this Agenda will be the mobilization of the necessary
financial resources to ensure its successful implementation. It will
fall on Parliaments to provide the requisite legislative support to
mobilize domestic resources as well as hold our governments to account
through the controls that we exercise in the expenditure of public
funds. The success of the Agenda will lie in its universal acceptance.
Parliaments will, therefore, be required to scale up efforts to
disseminate the Agenda to the people we represent to ensure buy-in and
ownership. The core values of participation, transparency and
accountability that reinforce democratic governance play a critical role
in ensuring collective ownership of development at the grassroots while
ensuring appropriate feedback.
My delegation welcomes the
Declaration that will be adopted at the end of this conference and notes
that the issues of violence against women and girls, migration, gender
equality and empowerment of women and girls, good governance and
democracy and the overall attainment of the sustainable development
goals are very important to the parliament of Ghana and indeed the
government of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama whose previous
Parliamentary experience has served to promote a deep collaboration
between Parliament and the Executive on a number of sensitive national
issues including the afore-mentioned.
Cognizant that our
collective support for the 2030 Global Agenda for Sustainable
Development is therefore an important step in the process we will return
with more energy to foster a much more deepened collaboration to
integrate the goals of the SDGs into our national development efforts
and pass the relevant laws to facilitate their implementation. By this,
we will not only be demonstrating our commitment to the Agenda but we
would also be sending a clear message to the rest of the world that we
would remain engaged in its implementation.
Parliament of Ghana
will also play a very important role in the follow-up and review process
and thus provide policy-makers with the requisite feedback to adjust,
refine and ensure that the objectives of the Agenda remain on track.
In
closing, I convey my delegation’s readiness to work together with
others in ensuring the successful implementation of the SDGs, while
safeguarding the future of our peoples that no one is left behind.
I thank you
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