United Nations in Ghana

Earlier this week, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, met with the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. John Dramani Mahama on the margins of the Africa Forward Summit. They exchanged views on the recent developments in the Sahel.

The Secretary-General commended President Mahama on his efforts to promote regional security and cooperation.

Readout of the Secretary-General’s meeting with H.E. Mr. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana
12 May 2026

Ghana🇬🇭 - UN Experts Warn Rural Transformation Risks Leaving Peasants Behind. Bridging the policy–implementation gap is key to real rural transformation.

At the end of their 10-day visit to Ghana, UN experts flag a critical gap between Ghana’s rural policies and real impact on the ground. They observe that despite strong commitments, smallholder farmers, fishers, and pastoralists, groups they describe as the backbone of the country’s food systems, still face exclusion, land insecurity and poverty.

Presenting their preliminary findings during a press conference held today at the end of their 10-day official visit, the Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas acknowledged Ghana’s strong human rights framework and its commitment to international conventions, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP). However, they noted a persistent gap between legal protections and their implementation on the ground.

Speaking to the media, Ms. Uche Ewelukwa Ofodile, Vice-Chair of the Working Group and Ms. Geneviève Savigny, a member of the Working Group, described illegal mining (galamsey) as a “human-made disaster of the first order,” calling it the country’s most acute, fast-growing, and politically charged environmental emergency.

The full press release is available here: https://ghana.un.org/en/315511-un-experts-warn-rural-transformation-risks-leaving-peasants-behind

Day3⃣
On the final leg of the field visit to assess the impact of the
World Food Programme Ghana United States Gvernment-funded Low Fee Private Schools feeding programme, one message stood out across every community visited: The initiative is boosting enrolment, improving attendance and performance, and strengthening student health.

While beneficiary schools expressed strong interest in being integrated into the public school feeding programme, there are clear signs of ownership by schools, parents and community leaders, with many already taking steps to sustain the programme beyond its conclusion in June 2026.

Day 2️⃣
Today, the World Food Programme Ghana-led team travelled to Zebilla in Ghana’s Upper East Region🇬🇭, where they engaged with two of the 207 Low Fee Private Schools benefiting from the U.S. funded school feeding programme. The visit clearly showed the impact of school feeding, including stronger school retention, reduced absenteeism, more active classroom participation, and healthier students.

These outcomes highlight the value of sustained investment in school meals, made possible through the commitment of WFP and partners.

Sustainable school meals sit at the crossroads of health, education, the environment, and local economies and they are a high impact investment in human capital, climate resilience, and inclusive growth.

Through its integrated school feeding programme, WFP Ghana is strengthening education outcomes while improving children’s nutrition at scale, reaching 60,000 learners in 207 low fee private schools across Northern Ghana, with support from the U.S. Government.

Today, World Food Programme in Ghana is leading a 3-day multi stakeholder field mission with the Ghana School Feeding Programme, the Ministry of Education GH and partners to project sites in the north. The visit offers a firsthand look at the LFPS model in practice and direct engagement with students, teachers, caterers, and parents, capturing what works, surfacing challenges, and generating evidence to inform policy, strengthen advocacy, and unlock scale.

The team visited Harvest Community School and Oxford Grammar Academy, both basic schools in the Tamale Municipality of the Northern Region, where enrolment has surged and clear improvements in students’ health and nutritional status have been recorded. These gains show that more children, especially in underserved communities, are being fed, are healthier, are learning better, and are staying in school.

🎉 Happy !
Today we celebrate the power of work, the dignity of labour, and workers everywhere.
💪 You build.
💡 You create.
🌍 You make progress possible.
Your work matters. Your impact is felt. Your efforts shape our future.

As global demand for sporting talent grows, young athletes, particularly in countries like Ghana, face increasing risks of trafficking and exploitation through informal agents, unlicensed academies and deceptive recruitment offers. Limited access to safe, regulated pathways continues to expose many to harm.

Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Ghana and partners, including the , led by IOM Ghana, convened a national forum to strengthen coordinated responses to trafficking risks in the sports sector and promote safe, orderly and regular migration pathways for aspiring athletes.

Protecting young talent means ensuring opportunity never comes at the cost of dignity, safety or rights.

Full story on the forum is available here: https://ghana.un.org/en/314720-guarding-game-ghana-convenes-national-forum-trafficking-sports-strengthen-safe-pathways

📊 Strengthening Food Security with Data 🇬🇭

The Ghana Statistical Service, in partnership with the World Food Programme Ghana, has officially launched the Mobile Vulnerability Analysis Mapping (mVAM) Survey – Food Insecurity Report on Ghana.

The innovative mVAM system provides real-time, actionable data to better understand food insecurity and support evidence‑based decision‑making for vulnerable households.

This milestone reflects strong collaboration with partners, Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) and the Government of the Republic of Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), whose support made the innovation possible. Together, we are advancing nationally owned data systems to drive smarter policies and improved livelihoods.

Read further: https://ghana.un.org/en/314523-ghana-statistical-service-and-world-food-programme-launch-food-insecurity-vulnerability