The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement clarifying Ghana’s position following widespread media commentary on its abstention during a vote at the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC59) in Geneva.
The vote, held on Monday, July 7, 2025, concerned the renewal of the mandate of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The Ministry stated that Ghana’s abstention has been mischaracterized by some sections of the Ghanaian media as a vote in support of LGBTQI rights.
According to the Ministry, the resolution was not about supporting LGBTQI rights per se, but rather about whether individuals identifying as LGBTQI should be protected from violence and discrimination. “There was no vote on the support of LGBTQI for which Ghana abstained as has been wrongly reported,” the statement emphasized.
The Ministry further explained that Ghana’s abstention was in line with Chapter 5, Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, and other factors. The decision, it said, was aimed at maintaining consistency with the country’s constitutional commitments while reflecting sensitivity to public sentiment.
The Foreign Ministry also cited remarks by Ghana’s Permanent Representative at the session, who reiterated Ghana’s interpretation of gender and sex as referring to male and female categories, particularly in policy and statistical contexts.
“Sex in our view refers to either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and most other living things are divided and used for statistical purposes and policy monitoring,” the representative said during the session.
