Ghana chairs Council of Member States of IDEA

Page 15: Daily Graphic, December 8, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
GHANA has been elected Chairman of the Council of Member States of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), an inter-governmental pro-democracy group.
The election of Ghana for the chairmanship of the IDEA Council took place during the 18th Session of the Council of Member States of IDEA, which took place in Mexico City.
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, was one of the key speakers on issues of global development and consolidation of democracy at the three-day session which ended last week Wednesday.
It was on the theme: “Democracy at crossroads — the challenges of illicit finance in politics.”
Ghana was earlier in the week elected to chair the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) at the just-ended Commonwealth Summit held in Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad and Tobago.
Alhaji Mumuni told the Daily Graphic that the election of Ghana to chair those two major inter-governmental bodies was in recognition of the country within the international community as a trail blazer in the area of democratic development, the rule of law and the protection of human rights.
He said the confidence reposed in Ghana by the international community was clearly in recognition of the fact that Ghana now served as a model of democracy and a beacon of hope for most African and developing countries.
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to be proud of those two major achievements and work hard to consolidate democracy in the country.
He said Ghana, having been elected to chair the Council, would host the 19th Session of the Council in December, 2010 during which the next chair would be elected.
The session usually brings together Foreign Ministers of all member states of IDEA to deliberate on issues of global democratic development.
The global pro-democracy group was established as an inter-governmental organisation by 14 countries in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1995.
With its headquarters in Stockholm, IDEA seeks to promote and advanced sustainable democracy worldwide through a global effort to consolidate democratic electoral processes.
Currently, IDEA has 25 members with Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Cape Verde and Ghana as the only African members. Other member countries include Canada, Norway, Sweden, Germany, among others.