President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Tinkaro Asare Osei has stated that his outfit will focus on helping the Akufo-Addo-led government achieve all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before 2030.

Speaking at the Ghana International Model United Nations Conference 2019, Mr. Tinkaro said all 17 goals require innovative actions towards their achievement and for this to come into realisation, the youth of this country must play an active role to ensure that is achieved.

According to him, Ghana has an advantage of achieving all goals before 2030 because we have President Akufo-Addo as the co-chair of the SDGs and other high-level ministerial committees that will see to the full realisation of these goals and their targets.

Addressing delegates at the conference, The NUGS President said the SDGs which consist of 17 goals, 230 indicators and 169 targets which states ‘no poverty’ and ‘leaving no one behind’ are really good and achievable.

Mr. Tinkaro further added that “We at NUGS are interested in the innovative approach of education for the Sustainable Development Goals that empower learners and students to be innovative in thoughts and patriotic in spirit through the drive of Pan Africanism to develop the continent”.

Stressing on the challenges the SDGs come with, the NUGS President said he believes having strong financial support for the implementation of these goals, building strong institutions and continuously putting leaders on check will also help achieve the set target.

Reiterating his commitment to achieving all 17 goals, he said “NUGS will continue to work hand in hand with Ghana International Model United Nations Conference (GIMUN) in order to get the youth and students to play their part towards the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals”.

Below is the full speech of the NUGS President at the Ghana International Model United Nations Conference 2019.

REMARKS BY H.E TINKARO ASARE OSEI, 52ND NUGS PRESIDENT AT THE GHANA INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE 2019

Thank you Chair.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen gathered here..

I welcome all delegates across the world who are here in Ghana for the 10th Session of the Ghana International Model United Nations Conference 2019.

It is an honour to be invited to the Tenth Session of Ghana International Model United Nations (GIMUN 2019) with the theme; “Stepping towards Transformation”.

We at NUGS are strong believers in continuously thriving for excellence in all disciplines and as such for over 52 years now, we have been dedicated to grooming generations of leaders, holistic problem solvers, diplomats, politicians, and men and women of influence and have over the years through positive partnership contributed our quota towards the development of activities of the Ghana International Model United Nation.

The theme for the Tenth Session of Ghana International Model United Nations Conference is “Stepping towards Transformation”.

The motive of choosing this theme as we are informed is to engage young people to know how transformational agenda can be set to enhance the lives of people of the world of which Participants will discuss the strategies, the loop holes, the measures and the radical actions that will be used in different ways to better the people’s wellbeing.

Transformation can be simply defined as a marked change in appearance or character, especially one for the better, thereby being able to work towards enhancing goals to maximize the quality of the lives of people in the world and we believe that such a theme will help develop ideas that will transform the development of the goals of SDGs.

These 17 goals require innovative actions towards their achievement and the youth of this country gathered here today for this occasion must play their part in ensuring we achieve the 17 goals before 2030

The UN met on September 2015 to propose new goals to move the world towards a sustainable development pathway.

This was known as the Sustainable Development Goals which will span fifteen years from 2015 to 2030. This comes after the MDGs which were mainly drawn for developing countries.

The current SDGs consist of 17 goals, 230 indicators and 169 targets whiles the previous one drawn consisted of 8 goals. The goals are ambitious and its “no poverty “and “leaving no one behind “ they are really good and achievable. In Ghana for instance, apart from the President being the Co-chair of the eminent group of advocates for the SDGs, there are groups like the SDG high level ministerial committee headed by the Minister for Planning, the ICC team, the NDPC and other bodies to see to the full realisation of these goals and their targets.

We at NUGS are interested in the innovative approach of Education for the Sustainable Development Goals that empower learners and students to be innovative in thoughts and patriotic in spirit through the Drive of Pan Africanism to develop the continent.

The conference must make meaningful and impactful impact on all of us herein.

Although the SDGs have some challenges , they have lots of major positives, as they address the critical challenges facing humanity and the planet and if implemented and supported by stakeholders, they will help change the negatives of Africa into monumental positives.

In moving forward, NUGS believes that the” absence” of well adequate and disaggregated data is a serious issue and must be addressed in order to know the strengths and weaknesses of our citizens and how to address them accordingly.

NUGS as well believes that most of these goals, targets and indicators need financial support for their implementation and the various stakeholders involved in developing and addressing the SDS in the country must work at raising the necessary finance to help achieve the set target.

NUGS as well believes that we must continue to build strong institutions while continuously putting a check on our leaders; no one will truly be left behind.

NUGS will continue to work hand in hand with GIMUN in order to get the youth and students to play their part towards the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

I wish to lastly use this opportunity to welcome all students to this conference .

Thank you and God bless us all