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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