British Minister urges workable solutions to world challenges

Accra, Sept. 22, GNA - British Minister of State for Armed Forces, Adam Ingram on Thursday called for flexibility and innovation as workable solutions to the challenges of peace that currently confronted the world.

He held that it was only through cooperation, exchange of ideas and willingness to learn lessons from previous events that realistic and lasting peace could be delivered across Africa, as well as the rest of the world.

Mr Ingram, who is in Ghana as part of a three-nation West African tour, made these remarks when he and Defence Minister Kwame Addo-Kufuor jointly unveiled a statue to inaugurate the second phase of facilities at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) at Teshie in Accra.

Britain contributed 8.6 million dollars, representing about 85 per cent of the total cost of the second phase of the facilities made up of three blocks housing a conference hall, hostel and dining hall. The other contributors are the governments of Italy and the Netherlands.

Mr Ingram called for continued support by the international community for the Kofi Annan Centre and pledged Britain's influence, as current chair of the EU and G8, to help to ensure that the international community remained engaged in such initiatives. He paid tribute to the staff of the Centre for their dedication and hard work, saying while the buildings were important, at the end of the day it was the people, who delivered the output, who made the real difference.

"It is these dedicated and professional people, who would actually contribute to the search for ways in which to prevent conflict and replace it with manageable and sustainable peace."

Dr Addo-Kufuor expressed appreciation to the three "friendly governments" for providing the facilities, saying they had contributed to make the KAIPTC a centre of excellence.

"It is the hope of the Government of Ghana and the people of the Sub-Region that friendly countries will continue to impact positively on our search for peace, progress and stability through the establishment of the ECOWAS standby Force," he said. Mr Ingram will next visit Nigeria and Sierra Leone.