Sherry Ayittey in a chat with Ruby Sandhu-Rojon after the first session of the discussion.
The Ministry of Environment, Science & Technology (MEST) has stressed the need for Ghana?s development partners to help the country institute a sustainable development and poverty eradication roadmap.
Sherry Ayittey, minister of Environment, Science & Technology, made the call while delivering an address at a briefing on the Rio+20 Outcomes for MDA?s Development Partners and the Media Thursday in Accra.
?All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Development Partners should work to develop a roadmap for taking into account the feasibility of using the green economy as a tool for sustainable development,? she said.
The minister called for the full implementation of the Rio+20 agenda.
Rio+20 is the short name for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012?20 years after the landmark 1992 Earth Summit in Rio.
At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from the private sector, NGOs and other groups, came together to discuss how poverty could be reduced.
According to Ms. Ayittey, weak integration and coordination among the MDAs, was impeding the formulation and implementation of sustainable development strategies of the ministry.
She stressed that to ensure the successful outcome of the Rio+20 conference, her outfit was working with all stakeholders to mainstream the outcome of the Rio+20 conferences into their respective sector plans and programmes.
The minister noted that the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) was taking steps to incorporate the outcome of the conference into the National Development Agenda.
The UN Resident Coordinator, Ruby Sandhu-Rojon, on her part, said, ?For United Nations, the ?Future We Want? is an affirmation of the centrality of sustainable development.?
Dr. Peter Acquah, chairman, National Committee on Sustainable Development, who presided over the presentation, said the time had come for Ghana to prioritize environmental issues and strategies for sustainable development guided by the Rio+20 principles.
BY Stella Danso Addai
