DEEPENING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND FOREIGN POLICY

reinforce cordial and mutually supportive relations with all our immediate and strategic neighbours in West Africa, reactivating erstwhile Permanent Joint Commissions for Cooperation (PJCC) for enhanced good neighbourliness, peace, security, and economic development; 2. reaffirm Ghana’s commitment to a Union of African States with common economic, foreign, and defence policies and appropriate institutions making her a serious player in a multipolar world including, as a transitional strategy, the re-engineering of ECOWAS and its institutions

work strategically to reintegrate the fraternal countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger into the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for enhanced regional stability; 4. reaffirm Ghana’s principled multilateralism and insistence on peaceful resolution of disputes amongst nations, renewing our activism at the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and other strategic arrangements, to fight threats to global health, peace, security, and sustainable development

reappraise contemporary strategies (including technological) for achieving bilateral and multilateral representation abroad based on which we can shape the country’s diplomatic and consular missions; 6. coordinate and leverage Ghana’s hosting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, to drive industrialisation and position Ghana as the transport and investment hub of Africa

upgrade passport technologies, streamline passport acquisition processes, and develop proactive programmes to promote and protect the welfare and rights of Ghanaian nationals abroad; and 8. encourage the participation of Ghanaians in the diaspora in national political and socio-economic development. 9. protect the inviolability of the premises of all foreign missions in Ghana as required under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vinea Convention on Consular Relations.

develop and launch a Comprehensive Foreign Policy (CFP) with an effective monitoring mechanism to serve as a blueprint for measuring policy output

formulate an economic diplomacy blueprint to serve as a policy guide to diplomats and other staff of the Foreign Service on clear deliverables under Ghana’s economic diplomacy agenda

re-evaluate Ghana’s bilateral and multilateral representations, and implement policies to enhance the effectiveness and impact of the country’s diplomatic and consular missions on national development; and

reappraise the geographical representation and economic significance of our diplomatic and consular missions and establish new missions strategic to our national development and national interest.

intensify economic diplomacy that transitions Ghana to a vibrant export trade and foreign investment

appoint trade attaches to specifically designated Ghana diplomatic missions to aggressively market Ghana’s competitiveness in trade and investment activity and spearhead the implementation of agreed strategies; and

address the issue of domestic support workers, especially in the Middle East, by formalising and regularising the domestic support industry, including developing a framework to protect Ghanaians abroad working in this sector.

strengthen our relationship with the Francophone and UEMOA communities to maximize the benefits of our geographical position

reassert Ghana's leadership role in re-engineering ECOWAS institutions and enhance the capacity of the national office in Accra to effectively educate Ghanaians and coordinate the implementation of Community Agreements and Protocols; and

continue to play an active and lead role in ECOWAS and work in concert with other member states to consolidate the gains of the Community and to achieve its defined goals.

pursue a friendly policy that repositions Ghana and enhances our image in the comity of nations.

reaffirm Ghana’s commitment to Pan-Africanism and strengthen our leadership under the AU Agenda 2063

deepen Ghana’s renowned Pan-Africanist credentials by rallying other African nations and the diaspora for cultural integration, good governance, and economic development

launch a comprehensive outreach initiative targeting Africans in the diaspora and African American and West Indian communities to promote cultural exchange, dialogue, and partnership

advocate for increased representation of Ghanaians in prominent positions within reputable multilateral organizations; and

promote and protect the welfare and rights of Ghanaian nationals abroad, and facilitate the involvement and participation of the Ghanaian Diaspora in national political and socio-economic development.

enhance Ghana’s internationally renowned image in peacekeeping operations by continuing to contribute to international peacekeeping missions and promoting conflict resolution and stability globally

improve conditions of engagement and increase the number of females in troop deployments, consistent with today’s UN standards; and

protect the inviolability of the premises of all foreign missions in Ghana as required under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

facilitate and expedite passport acquisition, including e-passports, through decentralization and adequate equipment of service points, and in compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirements on chip-embedded passports

enhance esprit de corps and meaningful career progression for career diplomats by ensuring that a sizeable number of ambassadors and envoys are selected from the stock of career diplomats

conduct an asset inventory of all diplomatic properties to pursue an aggressive asset improvement and maintenance programme

engage the diaspora community to streamline dual citizenship and ensure active participation in the democratic process

facilitate investment opportunities and create platforms for diaspora communities to contribute their expertise to local projects, enhancing economic growth, and fostering sustainable development initiatives; and

negotiate e-visa arrangements with other countries to streamline international travel and trade for Ghanaians. KEY EXTRACTS - DEEPENING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND FOREIGN POLICY 2 coordinate and leverage Ghana’s 1 work strategically to reintegrate hosting of the African Continental Free our fraternal countries of Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger partnership with relevant stakeholders, into the Economic Community to drive industrialisation and position of West African States Ghana as the transport and investment (ECOWAS) for enhanced 8 hub of Africa regional stability negotiate e-visa programs for 3 upgrade passport arrangements for technologies, streamline Ghanaians with other passport acquisition countries to streamline processes, and develop international travel and proactive programmes to trade and global promote and protect the connections welfare and rights of 7 Ghanaian nationals abroad formulate an economic diplomacy blueprint to serve 4 as a policy guide to reappraise the geographical diplomats and other staff of representation and the Foreign Service on clear economic significance of deliverables under Ghana’s our diplomatic and consular economic diplomacy 6 missions and establish new missions strategic to our deepen our involvement in appoint trade attaches to national development. the affairs of the specifically designated Francophone and UEMOA Ghana diplomatic missions communities to maximize to aggressively market the benefits of our Ghana’s competitiveness in geographical position trade and investment activity and spearhead the implementation of agreed strategies