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The Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has called for the reformation of the multilateral system, saying it has made it difficult for developing countries to deliver expected outcomes in democratic governance due to structural factors imposed by the system.
She said democracy had increasingly been at risk, especially in some developing nations, as the persisting challenges had raised the question of whether democratic systems could meet citizens' expectations.
“Democratic legitimacy is also shaped by outcomes. Across much of the developing world, government's ability to deliver is constrained by structural factors, including limited access to affordable finance, debt burdens and unequal terms of participation in the global economy,” Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said.
The Vice-President was speaking at the Fourth High-Level Meeting “In Defence of Democracy” in Barcelona, Spain, last Saturday.
The meeting, hosted by the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, was also attended by other heads of state.
In attendance were the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum; South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa; Colombian President, Gustavo Petro; Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley, as well as the leaders or high-ranking officials of 10 other countries, including the United Kingdom.
The “In Defence of Democracy” initiative inaugurated at the 2024 UN General Assembly is an international effort to confront the growing threats posed by extremism, polarisation and disinformation.
It also serves as a platform for heads of government and representatives of international organisations to strengthen coordination to defend democracy.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang indicated that while democracy was defended by institutions that worked consistently, fairly and for all, the current compositions of institutions in the multilateral system were under strain and must, as soon as practicable, be reformed to address the concerns of the contemporary time.
“If we are serious about defending democracy, then reform of these institutions cannot be deferred.
For Ghana, this includes a long-standing concern, that is the need to make the United Nations system and particularly the Security Council more representative of contemporary realities.
“The absence of adequate African representation continues to affect both credibility and effectiveness.
Democracy will not be sustained by alignment alone, but by institutions at work, economies that deliver and a shared commitment to fairness,” she stated.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang indicated that recently, geopolitical development across the world involving some of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council had continuously legitimised the call for its reformation.
She stressed that the structures designed to maintain peace and coordinate cooperation had been tested by geopolitical divisions, while the uneven application of rules had raised growing credible and valid questions about legitimacy.
The Vice-President decried the accentuating challenges of developing countries, underpinned by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; burdening debt service obligations, prevailing conflicts that disrupted supply chains and muted growth; significant gaps in climate adaptation and resilience financing, among others.
These challenges, she said, validated Africa’s step to establish and operationalise the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement to integrate markets, improve competitiveness and enhance intra-African trade to diversify cyclical risks, create jobs for the youth and co-create prosperity with those who had chosen to invest on the continent.
She affirmed that these efforts must be matched by progress at the global level through strengthening the international financial architecture in ways that were more accessible and responsive to the needs of developing countries.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang further called for a reformed international financial and development architecture to address the lingering challenges faced by developing countries over the decades across various sectors.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang indicated that the recent adoption of “UN resolution A/RES/80/250” — which declared the transatlantic slave trade and the chattelised enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity — affirmed a powerful truth that slavery and colonisation continued to shape relations among nations.
The task ahead following its adoption, the Vice-President said, was for the nations in the multilateral system to engage constructively to address these legacies in a spirit of partnership.
“This initiative must succeed, and it will do so by remaining open, inclusive and grounded in practical cooperation,” she said.
