Localizing Human Rights SDGs: Ghana in context

Abstract

In September 2015, Ghana along all UN member states endorsed the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the cardinal agenda towards achieving a prosperous global future. The SDGs are strongly interdependent, making progress in all goals essential for a country’s achievement of sustainable development. While Ghana and other West African nations have exhibited significant economic and democratic development post-independence. The judiciary system and related legal frameworks, as well as the lack of rule law and political will for safeguarding the human rights of its citizens, falls short of considering violations against minorities. Will Ghana be able to localize human rights related SDGs, given that West African governments historically tended to promote internal security and stability at the expense of universal human rights? This paper focuses on evaluating the commitments made by Ghana towards achieving Agenda 2030, with a particular focus on the SDGs 10 and 16 relating to the promotion of reduced inequalities, peace, justice and accountable institutions. Moreover, this paper also analyzes legal instruments and state laws put in place post Ghana’s democratization in 1992 for the purpose of preventing discrimination and human rights violations in the nation. The article aims to highlight how Ghana’s post-independence political experience, the lack of rule of law, flaws in the judiciary system, and the weak public access to justice are obstacles to its effective localization of human rights SGDs. Those obstacles to Ghana’s compliance with SDGs 10 and 16 are outlined in this paper through a consideration of human rights violations faced by the Ghanaian Muslim and HIV minorities, poor prison conditions, limited public access to justice and the country’s failure to commit to international treaties on human rights. Keywords: Ghana, human rights, rule of law, security, Agenda 2030