Atta-Mills Delegation at the United Nations

Professor Atta-Mills, the Presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress sent a 3-man delegation to Geneva to discuss policy issues and to seek international support for his policy proposals as outlined within the recently released manifesto. This is the first attempt by an African opposition party and its leader to discuss policy-issues directly with the United Nations and to seek its partnership in the future implementation of its programmes. The three-man delegation is led by Chris Addy-Nayo and includes Mr Daniel Torkenoo and Frank Edusei.

The delegation will be meeting with officials from the United Nations Council for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

At ILO the delegation will be engaged in discussions with UN officials on strategies for employment creation as outlined within the manifesto. The delegation will discuss ways of strengthening the Trade Union and other representative bodies to play a vital role in job creation for the unemployed and vulnerable groups such as women and the youth

At UNCTAD the delegation will discuss competition and trade policy issues as it affects the promotion of transparent and independent legal regimes for private private sector investors. Discussions here will focus on competition rules and the proposed Fair Trade Review Division to be established within the Ministry of Trade to prevent anti-dumping and to help local businesses gain access to foreign markets under WTO rules.

Another initiative to be discussed by the delegation is the establishment of an Internship programme within the UN agencies for young Ghanaian graduates. This will enable future eligible participants to gain international experience and exposure for the interests of Ghana and the ECOWAS region as a whole.

The delegation was in Geneva from the 24th - 26th August. Financial support for the Geneva mission has come from the German Branch of the NDC Chaired by Mr Francis Annan and Mr Kwasi Tamakloe.