The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and Senior Advisor to the President of Ghana on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, has reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to the impactful implementation of the SDGs at the 2025 United Nations High-Level Political Forum (UN-HLPF) Ministerial Segment on Monday, July, 21 2025.
He emphasised that Ghana’s dedication to the SDGs is reflected in its strong institutions, inclusive planning processes, and collaborative efforts aimed at building a more just, resilient, and sustainable future for all.
To demonstrate Ghana’s deliberate and sustained efforts toward achieving the SDGs, Dr. Thompson outlined key progress highlighted in the 2025 Voluntary National Review.
On SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), Dr. Thompson stated, “Ghana has expanded access to universal health coverage, reduced under-five and neonatal mortality, decreased anaemia prevalence among infants and newborns, and digitized health records across the 261 districts of Ghana.”
Regarding SDG 5 (Gender Equality), Dr. Thompson underscored Ghana’s significant strides in bridging gender disparities through targeted policies. He stated, “We are advancing women’s leadership, closing gender gaps in pre-tertiary education, and investing in systems to prevent gender-based violence.”
He further elaborated that Ghana is actively pursuing economic transformation by leveraging its youthful population, improving workers’ welfare, and boosting productivity to achieve SDG 8, which promotes decent work and economic growth.
Dr. Thompson also addressed SDGs 14 (Life Below Water) and 17 (Partnerships), explaining that Ghana is diligently combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, restoring marine ecosystems, and building resilience in coastal communities.
Concurrently, the country is “strengthening partnerships through South-South collaboration, enhancing data systems, and localising the SDGs within our Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).”
Despite these notable achievements, Dr. Thompson acknowledged challenges such as fiscal constraints, debt burden, weakening multilateralism and diplomacy, and inequities in the global financial architecture and technology access, which hinder Ghana’s progress toward fully realising the SDGs.
He urged the United Nations to champion “bold reforms to the global financial architecture that empower developing nations to invest in people and the planet, actionable follow-up to the Pact for the Future, ensuring commitments translate into tangible results as well as genuine partnerships that respect national ownership, build capacity, and close the digital and data divide.”