General News of Thursday, 23 February 2017
Source: GhanaWeb.com
2017-02-23
Former President John Dramani Mahama
Former President John Dramani Mahama has shared his achievements under the Sustainable Development Goals whilst commending African countries that have chalked successes in achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
Speaking at the African Leadership Magazine (ALM) Person of the Year 2016 Awards Programme in Johannesburg in South Africa, Mr. Mahama highlighted that during his tenure at the Presidency, Ghana achieved the targets of halving poverty and eliminating extreme hunger and malnutrition well in advance of the target date of 2015.
Other achievements he indicated included success achieved in “universal education with more than 97% of children of school going age being enrolled in school, with a gender parity of 1:1.”
“Significant success was also achieved in universal education with more than 97% of children of school going age being enrolled in school, with a gender parity of 1:1. Other successes include reduction in maternal and infant mortality, reduction in HIV infections, increased access to clean drinking water,” he noted
According to the immediate past President of Ghana, his government’s quick approach to salvage the country from the crippling load management programme (Dumsor) “saw a fast track deployment of 850MW of power, and the commencement of utilization of significant offshore gas wells has given Ghana, once again, the prospect of becoming a major exporter of power in the sub region.”
Mr. John Mahama also prayed African leaders to concentrate on achieving those SDGs that pertain to the continent particularly. This would ensure that Africa fulfills “its desire to shed off the unenviable tag of poverty, famine and disease ravished continent.”
