Regional integration month is launched
Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, on Thursday said Ghana has over the years played a key role in the creation and evolution of both ECOWAS and the African Union.
He said it was for this reason that May had been dedicated to regional integration.
He said events had been lined up to highlight the activities and challenges as well as strategies to respond to those challenges in order to move forward as one people, one sub-region and one continent.
Alhaji Mumuni said this when he launched the Regional Integration Month under the theme; Regional Integration: Free Movement and Cross.
Activities lined up include seminar on free movement of people, launch of ECOWAS Front a quarterly newsletter on ECOWAS activities, Road Show musical float with Chiizy Wailers latest ECOWAS release and a musical show with regional artistes.
He said the theme was deemed appropriate in view of the challenges and peculiar circumstances of the sub-region which have to be dealt with in order to achieve the ultimate objective of a borderless region.
Alhaji Mumuni said the 48th Africa Day would be celebrated on May 25 swhile the 36th ECOWAS day will falls on May 28.
He said May 25 marks the commemoration of the founding of Organisation of African Unity the precursor to the African Union which has as its objectives the promotion of sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of the Africa economics.
Alhaji Mumuni said the Africa Union has chosen as its theme “Accelerating Youth Empowerment for sustainable development.”
He said 2009-2018 was declared the decade for youth development in Africa by the 12th Ordinary session of the Assembly of Head of State and Government held in 2009 which is an opportunity to sustain political commitment to youth development and empowerment.
He said in this era of globalisation, integration was very important as economies would need to integrate to be able to survive, adding however that poor countries would continue to see the problems and not benefits.
Alhaji Mumuni said African leaders had tried to integrate the economies but there were more frustrations and much had not been achieved, saying there was the need to change the paradigm of integration.
He said new datelines have been set for achieving the convergence criteria towards the realisation of Common currency for Africa.
The Minister said 2015 had been set for all countries to achieve the criteria but no African country including Ghana, except the Gambia, has met the criteria.
He said Ghana, having attained single digit inflation, was moving on the path towards meeting the criteria.
On the crisis in Libya and the Ghanaians living there, he said 10,000 people were expected to evacuated but the number increased to 18,000 adding that Ghana was committed to evacuating all Ghanaians in Libya back home.
Source: GNA