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No country has monopoly of ideas for development - Ghanaian minister

No country has monopoly of ideas for development - Ghanaian minister
Written by Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba

GHANA foreign minister Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni has said no country or group of countries has a monopoly of ideas for development. Mumuni also described the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as the greatest independent and biggest peace movement in the world.

Before the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordinating Bureau in Havana, Cuba last Thursday, Mumuni said it was disturbing that a decade of impressive economic performance in a number of African countries was being eroded by the multiple global crises.

He observed that economic growth attained by emerging economies underlined the undying importance of South-South cooperation as a complement to North-South cooperation for advancement.

"The progress made by a number of developing countries indicates that no country or a group of countries have monopoly of ideas for development," Mumuni said.

He said developing countries could derive maximum benefit from South-South cooperation in the area of information and communication technology.

Mumuni called for bridging the digital divide between the developed and developing countries by designing strategies that enhanced the capacity at national and regional levels.

He said developing countries saw both the potential of globalisation for development as well as the challenges it imposed on them.

"For instance, although our countries are far removed from the epicenter of the international financial crisis, we are witnessing that it has far-reaching implications for developing countries," Mumuni said.

He said most African countries, for instance, would not attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Mumuni said the situation had been aggravated by the current global economic meltdown particularly for those countries that had already suffered from impacts of food and energy crises.

"For Africa it should be disturbing to see that a decade of impressive economic performance in a number of countries on the continent is being eroded by the multiple global crises," he said.

Mumuni said the NAM should serve as a forum for advocacy calling on the international community to deliver on its commitment on increased Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), promotion of fair international trade as an engine of development, the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, increased investment flows and wider debt relief.

He said in the face of the many challenges as well as opportunities the NAM should reassert its role as the greatest independent and biggest peace movement in the world.

Mumuni said that required member states to marshal the necessary resources at national, regional and international levels to transform the body into a 21st Century organisation capable of defending the interests of its members and meeting the peoples' aspirations.

He also said since the end of the Cold War the question had often been asked whether the founding aims and objectives of the NAM remained relevant.

Mumuni said Ghana was still of the firm belief that the time-honoured principles of solidarity and equality as well as the quest for human dignity, peace and security were as valid today as in the era of the founding fathers.

"So long as member states remain true to the ideals of NAM there can be no question about its continuing relevance in a world of glaring inequalities and where hunger, poverty and diseases still afflict billions of people," said Mumuni.

Labels: ALHAJI MUHAMMAD MUMUNI, DEVELOPMENT, GHANA

posted by MrK @ 3:49 PM