President Mahama reaffirms Ghana’s support for Palestine and two-state solution, highlights Sudan crisis and climate-induced migration at UNGA80

President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed Ghana’s long-standing support for Palestinian statehood and a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict during his address at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) in New York.

Speaking on Thursday, September 25, President Mahama condemned the denial of visas to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation, calling it a worrying precedent for UN member nations. Ghana, he noted, recognised the state of Palestine in 1988 and has consistently backed a two-state solution. “Contrary to the claims of some, a two-state solution would not be a reward for Hamas. It would rather be a retreat for the hundreds of thousands of innocent women, children, and people facing collective punishment and forced starvation simply because they are Palestinian,” he said.

President Mahama also addressed the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, describing it as the world’s largest. He said twelve million people have been forced to flee their homes and urged the global community to assist these refugees as they did for Ukrainians. Highlighting the broader issue of climate-induced migration, he observed that while the Global North emits 75 per cent more greenhouse gases than the Global South, the latter bears the brunt of climate change due to limited resources. “When the desert encroaches on our villages and towns and they become unlivable, we are forced to flee,” he stated.

Quoting Somali-British poet Warsan Shire, Mahama stressed the human reality behind migration: “No one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land. No one burns their palms under trains beneath carriages. No one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled means something more than a journey.”

He concluded by urging the world to confront injustice without euphemisms, warning against normalising cruelty, hatred, xenophobia, and racism. “If we are going to tell a story, let’s not tell it slant. Let’s tell the truth,” President Mahama said.