President John Mahama has declared that the freedom of any nation cannot be secure unless it is linked to the freedom of all humanity.

He said the international community must recognise the shared humanity of all people and ensure that freedom, dignity and rights are protected regardless of where people come from or their circumstances.

“The freedom of any nation is insecure unless it is linked to the freedom of all humanity,” President Mahama said.

He made the remarks on Thursday, September 24, 2026, when he addressed the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

President Mahama drew on Ghana’s independence history to reinforce his call, recalling the words of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who linked Ghana’s independence to the liberation of the African continent.

“When our first president Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah stood on the eve of our independence in 1957, he declared that the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up to the total liberation of the African continent,” he said.

“Today, from this respected global podium, we must expand that historic truth,” he added.

President Mahama said vulnerable groups, including people in small island states threatened by rising oceans, as well as the poor and marginalised, are part of the global human family and must not be left behind.

“The small island states threatened by rising oceans belong to humanity. The poor, the vulnerable and the marginalized belong. They belong to our common human family,” he said.

“And because they belong, we must safeguard their dignity, we must enforce their rights, and most of all we must hear their voices.”

The President further argued that Ghana’s prosperity, like global peace, must be built on principles of inclusion and justice.

“In Ghana, we believe that our national prosperity is fragile unless it is a shared prosperity. Our global peace is unviable unless it is anchored in justice,” he said.

He urged the United Nations General Assembly to promote a world where belonging is used to unite people rather than create divisions.

“Let this General Assembly recommit itself to a world where belonging is used not to erect walls, but to build bridges, not to exclude, but to unite, not to degrade humanity, but to exalt,” President Mahama said.

He also called for honesty and courage in addressing global challenges.

“Let us speak truth with humility, let us act with courage, and as I said from the Ghanaian national anthem, let us cherish fearless honesty in the statements that we did deliver today at this podium and in the choices we make tomorrow,” he added.