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Kufuor
calls for UN Expert Centre
Accra, March 25, Ghanadot/GNA - Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has
said the huge challenge of political will facing international
organizations and governments within the developing countries
calls for "a sincere and transparent political agreement within
the donor community ... to generously assist states in fragile
and conflict situations."
This challenge, he said, sounded like the obvious until it was
realized that "many a time, political motive to assist is not
without vested interest or Geo-political consideration".
Former President Kufuor was delivering the keynote address on
“International Organizations and National Governments: Mapping
the Challenges” at the 3C Conference in Geneva.
The 3C Conference 2009 was on Promoting Security, Development
and Peace in Fragile Situations.
It was organized by the World Bank, the United Nations, NATO and
the OECD and attended by over 200 delegates from within the UN
system and 40 countries.
Mr Kufuor said that there were also the strategic and
organizational problems which revealed themselves in
coordination difficulties in the work of development agencies
working in especially fragile states.
These were so because the requisite coherence, co-ordination and
complementarity were yet to be seen.
It could be, he explained, that the management of development
agencies was not sometimes professional and efficient enough
whilst admitting some successes under the UN with its
peace-keeping agencies.
For these and others, he therefore, suggested that "the approach
must be particularized to each and every recipient nation to
gain maximum impact.
This should call for the establishment of "an expert centre for
study and strategy" to be situated, preferably within the UN, on
agreement among the entire donor community, to service the
purpose of assisting troubled countries on individual basis".
The conference, under the care of the Swiss Agency for
Development Corporation, was also addressed by Mr Ad Melkert,
Under-Secretary General and Administrator of the United Nations
Development Programme, Dr Donald Kaberuka, African Development
Bank's President, Ms Aurelia Bouchez, Deputy Secretary-General
of NATO, Mr Richard Carey, Director, Development Co-operation
Directorate, OECD.
During his Geneva visit, Mr Kufuor was invited by the former
President of Finland and the 2008 Nobel Prize Winner for Peace,
Martti Ahtisaari to join the Governing Council of Interpeace, an
international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works in
partnership with the United Nations.
Mr. Scott Weber, who conveyed this to Mr Kufuor, explained that
as an international organization, Interpeace helped divided and
conflict societies in many regions of the developing world.
He expressed the hope that Mr Kufuor's formal acceptance to join
a galaxy of international statesmen and retired distinguished
personalities on the Council would promote international
development.
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