关于第 80 届联合国大会的致辞，由加纳共和国总统约翰·德拉马尼·马哈马阁下宣读。

主席女士、秘书长先生、各位阁下、女士们、先生们：

在联合国大会第八十届会议上，我想谈谈非洲在本组织未来发展中扮演的角色。但要探讨这个话题，我们必须首先审视非洲在联合国创立过程中微不足道的集体贡献。

1945 年参与创建联合国的 51 个成员国中，仅有四个非洲国家：埃及、埃塞俄比亚、利比里亚和南非。

需要指出的是，联合国的诞生源于其前身国际联盟未能阻止大规模全球冲突 -- 而这正是 1920 年一战结束后成立国联的初衷。在国联 42 个创始成员国中，非洲国家仅有三个：利比里亚、南非联邦和埃塞俄比亚。埃及直到 1937 年才加入。非洲在创建过程中的参与度可谓微乎其微。

究其根源，早在所有会谈之前，14 个国家的代表就于 1884 年齐聚柏林，经过系列磋商最终导致了非洲大陆被瓜分和殖民化 -- 史称 "非洲争夺战"。

有句名言写道："过去是未来的序幕。" 在那个年代，如今组成非洲的 54 个国家中，绝大多数都未能参与构建世界新秩序的决策。

但是主席女士，

时移世易。在塑造世界未来格局的过程中，非洲必将扮演举足轻重的角色。

根据联合国预测，到 2050 年全球超过 25% 的人口将来自非洲大陆。届时全球 15 至 24 岁青年中，三分之一将生活在非洲。

所以诸位请看，未来属于非洲。

请允许我提高音量再强调一次：未来属于非洲！

时至今日，非洲已成为激发人类潜能、推动社会发展、促进经济改革和维护生态稳定的催化剂，更是系统性变革的驱动力。若这一基于事实的客观陈述令你感到冒犯或不安，或许是因为你仍戴着种族主义、殖民主义与帝国主义的历史滤镜来看待这片大陆 -- 这种视角滋生了根深蒂固的隐性偏见。

你可能尚未意识到非洲国家的韧性，也不了解它们总能在被世人低估时迸发惊人复兴力的特质。

加纳正在上演的正是这样的故事。我国宪法规定总统任期不得超过两届，每届四年。今年一月我就任第二任总统时（需特别说明的是，这两届任期并不连续），加纳塞地货币正经历急剧贬值。

面对通胀高企、债务沉重和民心低迷的三重压力，新政府迅速启动了全面转型计划，旨在重构经济基础、提升国际竞争力。我们将这场深度改革称为"重置议程"。

短短八个月内，通胀率从 2024 年 12 月的 23.8% 降至 2025 年 8 月的 11.5%，重拾物价稳定。加纳塞地更一度被彭博社评为全球表现最佳货币，汇率大幅回升。

主权信用评级提升印证着投资者信心的增强，"24 小时经济计划" 即将重塑国民经济格局。民众正重拾对政府的信任，相信执政者始终心系国家利益，与人民携手共进。

总统女士：

值此里程碑式的周年庆典，联合国也应启动深刻变革，制定自身的 "重置议程"。自创立以来，成员国数量已增长近四倍，当今世界与 1945 年早已不可同日而语。

我在今年一月开启第二个非连续总统任期时，距首届任期结束（2017 年 1 月）虽仅八年，却恍如从华盛顿·欧文笔下瑞普·凡·温克尔的百年长梦中惊醒 -- 试想八十载岁月将带来何等巨变。

1945 年的世界：史上最大帝国尚未解体，越洋旅行依赖航船，个人计算机尚未发明，电视机作为新兴事物仍处于黑白时代。当丘吉尔宣称 "铁幕已降临欧洲大陆" 时，美苏关系正急剧降温。

而八十年后的今天：全球每日起降十万架次商业航班，数字图书馆将浩瀚典籍装入掌中设备。加密货币、人工智能、社交媒体与互联网构筑的新世界，连同暗网这个潜在威胁全球安全的数字深渊，共同定义着当代文明。

气候变化正在吞噬马尔代夫等岛国于海平面上升中，廷巴克图被荒漠化侵蚀，亚马逊雨林因全球变暖与滥伐走向消亡 -- 我们正在这场环境保卫战中节节败退。

主席女士，

《联合国宪章》在代表权问题上已不合时宜。二战后的最强国度至今仍享有近乎专制的全球监护权，而宪章第二章第一条开篇却宣称 "本组织系基于各会员国主权平等之原则"。

若真如此，拥有众多成员国的非洲大陆理应在安理会享有一个常任席位。否决权更不应被五国垄断且不受制约——必须建立联大挑战否决权的机制，绝不允许任何国家为一己私利滥用绝对否决权。

1995 年联合国五十周年庆典时，纳尔逊·曼德拉就站在这个位置说过："联合国必须重新评估其角色、定义其定位、改革其架构，真正反映世界多样性，确保国际关系体系中的权力公平分配——特别是安理会。"

三十年后的今天，我们非洲领导人仍在诉求同一个目标：拥有否决权的安理会常任席位。主席女士，此刻我站在这里追问：若非此刻，更待何时？

我们不仅要改革安理会，更要重构当前对非洲不公的全球金融架构——非洲必须在多边金融机构获得更大话语权。

借此机会，我呼吁解除对古巴封锁。我国国父恩克鲁玛博士有句名言："我们愿与天下为友，与世无争。" 古巴人民曾为非洲反种族隔离流血牺牲，过去现在都是非洲的真朋友。

我能在此直言不讳，各国能齐聚共商全球要务、申诉不公、表达关切 -- 正是这种可能性彰显着本组织的存续价值。每座古城都有广场庭院，曾是民众与领袖共议庆典、审判选举的场所。可悲的是，时空与技术已侵蚀这些公共空间。

主席女士，

联合国恰似现代地球村的议事广场。在算法制造信息茧房、虚假影像助长分裂的危局下，在民族主义抬头、多边体系崩解、主权遭践踏、国际规则被架空之际 -- 这个维系人类共同体的空间比任何时候都珍贵。

当前局势与导致国联失败的征兆何其相似！拒绝巴勒斯坦代表团签证的做法开恶劣先例，值得全体成员国警醒。

加纳 1988 年承认巴勒斯坦国，支持两国方案。

这绝非对哈马斯的奖赏，而是为数十万正遭受集体惩罚、蓄意断粮的无辜民众争取生机。

近两年来，我们在这议事厅里为规避报复，用文字游戏掩饰众所周知的暴行。但事实就是事实：加沙的罪行必须终止！

请特别关注苏丹危机 -- 这场被定性为 "全球最大人道灾难" 的冲突已制造 1200 万流离失所者。提及移民时，我们本应像援助乌克兰难民那样伸出援手。

不必讳言：当西方领袖抱怨移民问题，他们往往特指全球南方移民 -- 其中多是气候难民。耐人寻味的是，全球北方温室气体排放量高出南方 75%，承受更严重后果的却是缺乏应对资源的南方。当荒漠吞噬家园，我们唯有逃亡。

索马里裔英国诗人Warsan Shire -- 这位肯尼亚出生的难民之女、伦敦首任青年桂冠诗人 -- 在《家园》中写道：

你必须明白

没有人会把孩子放上小船

除非海水比陆地更安全

没有人会灼伤手掌

在火车下

在车厢底

没有人会日夜蜷缩在卡车货舱

靠报纸充饥 除非千里跋涉

比旅程意味着更多

主席女士，

我们不能将残忍视为常态。

我们不能将仇恨视为常态。

我们不能将排外和种族主义视为常态。

若要讲述故事，就应直言不讳。让我们说出全部真相。

当我们谈论移民时，我们说的是加州中区联邦法院法官 Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong 女士。她是加州四大联邦法院首位黑人女性法官，父母是从加纳移民至美国的移民。

我们说的是 Peter Bossman 医生 -- 这位生于加纳的医者上世纪八十年代移居斯洛文尼亚皮兰市，后来成为皮兰市首位黑人市长、斯洛文尼亚乃至整个东欧地区首位黑人市长。

我们说的是加纳裔挪威标志性艺术家与设计师 T-Michael，还有已故联合国前秘书长、诺贝尔和平奖得主科菲·安南 -- 他生于加纳，成年后辗转欧美多地生活。

这些人为他们称之为家园的国家带来了无上荣光，正如历代移民及其后代所做的那样。他们不是入侵者，更非罪犯。

主席女士，

奴隶贸易必须被确认为人类史上最严重的反人类罪行。作为非洲赔偿事务倡导者，加纳拟向本届尊贵的大会提交相关动议。

超过一千二百五十万非洲人被强行掳走，被迫为西方列强创造财富。

我们必须要求对奴役我们的人民、殖民我们的土地进行赔偿 -- 这些暴行导致自然资源被掠夺，文物及其他文化遗产遭洗劫，其中大部分至今仍未归还。我们深知这片土地的价值，更知生命的尊严。

正如当年殖民者所做的那样，正如那些政府欣然向奴隶主支付赔偿金以弥补其 "财产损失" 所做的那样 -- 那些获得赔偿的 "财产"，正是已被解放的奴隶。

主席女士，

当今世界日益动荡不安，我们看到双边伙伴国防预算不断攀升，官方发展援助却大幅削减。自 2024 年 7 月以来，对非洲的人道主义援助已下降 40%。

在这个充满不确定性的时代，非洲必须对其自然资源行使主权，筹集必要资金以确保民众福祉。将大片特许开采区割让给外国利益集团的时代必须终结。我们将继续欢迎外资，但必须通过谈判为本国争取更多自然资源权益。

我们厌倦了这样的画面：在外国掌控的巨型资源开采区边缘，农村社区深陷贫困与疾病。我们受够了被榨取最大利益，却只换来最低限度的尊重、体谅与尊严。

我们不愿再被片面呈现 -- 既不能展现我们历史的丰厚底蕴与复杂脉络，也不承认我们为抵达这个充满无限可能的临界点所跨越的重重障碍。

请允许我援引印裔美国作家 Arundhati Roy 的话："另一个世界不仅可能，她正在路上。在寂静的日子里，我能听见她的呼吸。"

我想补充说：为了非洲，也请原谅我的私心 -- 为了我 18 岁的女儿，我祈愿这个正在到来的新世界，能成为妇女与女孩的安全平等之地。要实现这点，我们必须赋能所有人 -- 包括妇女与女孩 -- 让她们充分发挥潜能。

最后，主席女士，

祝贺您当选具有历史意义的第 80 届联大主席，成为担此殊荣的第五位女性。同时祝贺 Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang 阁下成为加纳首位女性副总统。现在每个加纳女孩都看到了自己可攀登的高度。

言辞固然重要，但代表性问题更为关键。因此加纳期待未来能有女性出任本组织秘书长。

主席女士，

各位阁下，

感谢各位的亲切关注。

FULL TEXT: President Mahama's Speech at the 80th UN General Assembly

MESSAGE TO THE 80TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA,

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA

THURSDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2025.

Madam President,

Mr. Secretary-General,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

At this 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, I would like to speak about Africa’s role in the future of the organisation. However, it is impossible to do that without first considering the collective role that Africa played in its founding, which was small and relatively insignificant.

Of the 51 Member States involved in the founding of the United Nations in 1945, only four were African: Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, and South Africa.

It is important to point out that the United Nations came into being in the aftermath of World War 2 because of the inability of its precursor, the League of Nations, to avert a large-scale global conflict, which had been its guiding purpose when it was founded in 1920 on the heels of World War 1.

Out of the 42 founding member states of the League of Nations, only three were African: Liberia, the Union of South Africa, and Ethiopia. Egypt joined later in 1937. Africa’s overall participation in the organisation’s founding was minimal and relatively unimportant.

That’s because, before all the other talks and meetings, representatives from a group of 14 nations gathered in Berlin for a series of discussions that began in 1884, which led to the partition and formal colonisation of the continent—also called the Scramble for Africa.

It has famously been written that “past is prologue.” Well, in the past, the majority of the 54 nations that now comprise Africa were never offered a seat at the table where plans for a new World Order were being drawn.

But, Madam President,

As fate would have it, the tables have turned, and Africa’s role in the authorship of whatever is yet to come for this world will be huge, and it will be consequential.

According to this organisation’s own projections, by the year 2050, more than 25% of the world’s population is expected to come from the African continent. Additionally, by 2050, one-third of all young people, aged 15 to 24, will be residing on the African continent.

So, you see, the future is African.

Allow me to say this once again, a little louder for the people in the back. The future is African!

Already today, Africa is a catalyst for human potential and development, as well as for economic reform and ecological stability. Africa is a catalyst for systemic change. If this reality—which is fact-based and straightforward—seems provocative or unsettling, perhaps it’s because you’re viewing it through the lens of centuries of racism, colonialism, imperialism, and the resulting implicit bias.

Maybe you’re unaware of the resilience of African nations or their remarkable ability to make a strong comeback, just when you think it’s safe to discount them.

That’s what is happening right now in Ghana. Our Constitution limits leaders to two four-year terms. In January, I was sworn in for a second term, which, I should add, is non-consecutive with the first. Our currency, the Ghana cedi, was rapidly depreciating.

Faced with rising inflation, a huge debt burden, and low morale amongst our citizens, my new administration quickly embarked on an ambitious programme of comprehensive transformation designed to restructure Ghana’s economic foundation and enhance our competitive standing globally. We refer to this process of recalibration as our reset agenda.

In just eight months, we have achieved a significant reduction in inflation, from 23.8% in December 2024 to 11.5% in August 2025, restoring price stability for our citizens. Additionally, the Ghana cedi has appreciated considerably against other currencies, with Bloomberg reporting it as the best-performing currency in the world at one point.

Our improved sovereign credit rating reflects increasing investor confidence. Our 24-Hour Economy Initiative promises to transform our economy. There is a renewed willingness among the people to trust that their elected officials have Ghana’s interests at heart and that we are progressing together.

Madam President,

I believe that, in honour of this milestone celebration, the United Nations should also embark on a process of serious recalibration and establish its own reset agenda. Since the organisation’s founding, the number of UN Member Nations has nearly quadrupled. And, quite frankly, it is not the same world that it was back then.

I mentioned earlier that I began my second non-consecutive term as president this past January. My first term ended in January 2017. In that span of time, the world had changed with such ferocity, my first days in office felt as though I’d just awakened from a Rip Van Winkle-style slumber. That was after only eight years; imagine, then, what it would be like after eighty years.

In 1945, the sun had not yet set on the largest empire in history; the most common mode of international travel was by sea; the personal computer had not been invented, let alone made portable; and television, a new convenience, was still in its infancy, albeit in black and white.

Relations between the US and the Soviet Union were turning frosty, with Winston Churchill declaring that “an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”

Eighty years on, in today’s world, 100,000 commercial flights take off and land every day; libraries have been digitised so that volumes of literature can exist on a device small enough to fit inside your pocket. This is a world of cryptocurrency, Artificial Intelligence, social media, the Internet, and its dark, hidden dungeon —the dark web—all of which carry a potential threat to global peace and security.

Climate change is real, and we are fighting a losing battle against the loss of the Maldives and other island nations to the rising sea level, Timbuktu to desertification, and the Amazon Rainforest to global warming and deforestation.

Madam President,

The UN founding charter is outdated when it comes to representation. The most powerful post-World War 2 nations are still being rewarded with an almost totalitarian guardianship over the rest of the world. And yet, the first sentence in Chapter 2, Article 1 of the UN charter declares that “The Organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members.”

If this were truly the case, a continent as large as Africa with its numerous UN Member states would have at least one permanent seat on the Security Council. Furthermore, veto power should not be restricted to five nations, nor should it be absolute.

There must be a mechanism for the General Assembly to challenge a veto. No single nation should be able to exercise an absolute veto to serve its own interests in a conflict.

In 1995, during the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, Nelson Mandela stood in this very spot. He said, “The United Nations has to reassess its role, redefine its profile, and reshape its structures. It should truly reflect the diversity of our universe and ensure equity among the nations in the exercise of power within the system of international relations. In general, and the Security Council in particular.”

Thirty years later, we African leaders are still making the same request: for a permanent seat on the Security Council, with the power of veto. So, today, Madam President, I stand here in this exact spot, asking: if not now, then when?

We demand not only a reform of the Security Council, but also a reset of the global financial architecture, which is currently rigged against Africa. Africa must have a greater say in the world's multilateral financial institutions.

While I am making requests, I would like to call for the removal of the blockade on Cuba. As Dr Kwame Nkrumah, our nation’s founder, famously said, “We seek to be friends of all and enemies to none.” The Cuban people shed their blood on African soil in the fight against apartheid. Indeed, Cuba has been, and continues to be, a faithful friend to Africa.

You see, the very fact that I can stand here and ask these things, and the fact that all nations can ostensibly gather here to address critical global issues, air grievances, and express concerns—that is what makes the survival of this organisation so important.

In every old city or village, you will find a town square, a courtyard, or a plaza that once served as a gathering place for the citizens and their leaders. Meetings and celebrations were held there, as were trials and elections. They were spaces that brought people together and held them as a community. Sadly, time and technology have eroded those spaces.

Madam President,

In many ways, the United Nations is the proverbial town square of our modern global village. And it has never been more critical for us to protect this one space that brings and holds the world’s nations together as a community.

The Internet, social media platforms, and Artificial Intelligence offer us the illusion of connectivity, when in fact they reinforce isolation by using algorithms that ensure we do not receive new ideas and perspectives, but rather more of the same. We are served alternative facts and manipulated images, making it easier to disseminate disinformation and sow seeds of division.

These are dangerous times. Our world is currently experiencing a rise in nationalism and economic instability. There is a general breakdown of multilateralism; various acts of aggression have been committed against the sovereignty of others, and nations are attempting to circumvent the very safeguards put in place to prevent large-scale global conflict.

These conditions are all too similar to the ones that led to the League of Nations' failure in fulfilling its mandate. The denial of visas to President Abbas and the Palestinian delegation sets a bad precedent and should be deeply worrying to all member nations.

Ghana recognised the state of Palestine in 1988 and supported a two-state solution to the conflict.

Contrary to the claims of some, a two-state solution would not be a reward for Hamas but, rather, a reprieve for the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who have been facing collective punishment and forced starvation for no reason other than the fact that they are Palestinian.

For nearly two years, and for the fear of reprisal, we here in this General Assembly have been playing hide-and-seek with language to find the right words to help us avoid or excuse what we all know is taking place there.

But here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter what you call it: if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, well then… It must be a duck. The crimes in Gaza must stop.

Madam President,

I want to draw particular attention to the conflict in Sudan, which this body has described as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Twelve million people have had to flee their homes.

When we speak of migration, we refer to the 12 million new refugees, whom we, as a global community, should be willing to assist in much the same way that many member nations readily assisted new refugees from Ukraine.

Let’s dispense with euphemisms and dog-whistles and speak frankly. It’s not a mystery that when leaders of Western nations complain of their migration problems, they are often referring to immigrants from the Global South.

Many of those migrants are climate refugees. Interestingly, the Global North emits 75% more greenhouse gases than the Global South. However, the effects of climate change are more severe in the Global South because we lack the resources to address them effectively.

So, when the desert encroaches and our villages and towns become unlivable, we are forced to flee.

Warsan Shire, a Somali-British poet born in Kenya to Somalian refugee parents, was London’s first Youth Poet Laureate. She writes in her poem titled “Home”.

You have to understand

that 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 journey.

Madam President,

We cannot normalise cruelty.

We cannot normalise hatred.

We cannot normalise xenophobia and racism.

If we are going to tell a story, let’s not tell it slant. Let’s tell all the truth.

When we speak of migrants, we speak of Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, a judge on the US District Court for the Central District of California. She is the first Black female judge on any of California’s four federal district courts. She was born in America to immigrant parents from Ghana.

We speak of Peter Bossman, a medical doctor born in Ghana who moved to the town of Piran in Slovenia in the 1980s. He later became the first Black mayor of Piran, the first Black mayor in Slovenia, and in the whole of Eastern Europe.

We speak of T-Michael, the iconic Ghanaian-Norwegian artist and designer, and the late Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, who was born in Ghana but spent his adulthood in various places in America and Europe.

These are people who have brought great distinction to the countries that they call home. Just as the migrants and the children of migrants before them did. These are not invaders or criminals.

Madam President,

The slave trade must be recognised as the greatest crime against humanity. As African Champion on reparations, Ghana intends to introduce a motion in this August body to that effect.

More than twelve and a half million Africans were forcibly taken against their will and transported to create wealth for the powerful Western nations.

We must demand reparations for the enslavement of our people and the colonisation of our land that resulted in the theft of natural resources, as well as the looting of artefacts and other items of cultural heritage that have yet to be returned in total. We recognise the value of our land and the value of our lives.

As did our coloniser, as well as the governments that happily paid reparations to former slave owners as compensation for the loss of their “property”—that “property” for which compensation was paid referred to enslaved people who had been freed.

Madam President,

An increasingly insecure world is witnessing upward spending on defence budgets of bilateral partners and steep cuts in Official Development Assistance. Since July 2024, there has been a 40% drop in humanitarian aid to Africa.

In this era of global uncertainty, Africa must exercise sovereignty over its natural resources to raise the necessary funds to ensure the well-being of its citizens.

The days of parceling out vast concession areas to foreign interests for exploitation must come to an end. We will continue to welcome foreign investment, but we must negotiate better for a bigger share of the natural resources that belong to us.

We are tired of the continued image of poverty-stricken, disease-ridden rural communities, living at the periphery of huge foreign-controlled natural resource concession areas. We are tired of having people extract the most they can from us and, in return, offer us the very least by way of respect, consideration, and dignity.

We are tired of not being represented in ways that reveal the richness and complexity of our history or acknowledge all that we have overcome to arrive here, in this liminal space of untold possibilities.

Allow me to echo the Indian-American writer, Arundhati Roy, who wrote: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

I want to add that for the sake of Africa, and quite selfishly, for the sake of my 18-year-old daughter, I hope this new world that is arriving is a place of safety and equality for women and girls. To succeed, we must empower everyone, including women and girls, to reach their full potential.

In closing, Madam President,

I would like to congratulate you on your election to preside over this historic 80th General Assembly, and on being the fifth woman to hold this distinction.

I would also like to congratulate Her Excellency Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang on being the first woman Vice President of Ghana. Now every Ghanaian girl knows the heights to which she can ascend.

Words matter, but issues of representation matter even more, which is why Ghana looks forward to the appointment of a woman as Secretary General of this organisation in the future.

Madame President,

Your Excellencies,

Thank you for your kind attention.

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