Lebanese Ambassador and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Ghana, Maher Kheir has appealed with the International Community to help bring about an immediate cease fire on Lebanon.
Israel has in less than three weeks pummeled Lebanon with an unprecedented extensive airstrike campaign targeting the strongholds of Hezbollah.
According to NBC News, an “apocalyptic” situation is mounting across Lebanon, health care workers warned, with 1.2 million people displaced and many sleeping on the streets of Beirut. More than 1,300 have been killed, health officials say, as the U.S. and other countries evacuate their citizens.
Ambassador Kheir made this appeal in his speech as a Special Guest at the Ghana Women Awards (GWA) 24 at the Accra International Conference Center on Sunday 6 October, 2024.
The Ambassador lamented that Lebanon is enduring the horrors of war and facing unimaginable loss as thousands of lives have been taken, and over one million people driven from their homes, now wandering on the roads with no shelter, under the open sky.
“I call on the International Community to work towards an immediate ceasefire, halt the machinery of war, and establish a lasting peace” he appealed.
He mentioned that despite these overwhelming hardships his country is enduring, he felt compelled to still attend the Ghana Women Awards event because the cause of women is something deeply close to his heart.
“I cannot help but think of the resilient Lebanese woman, who has lost her husband and children in the wars that Lebanon has endured yet refuses to give up. She has struggled for survival and dignity, and despite all the difficult circumstances, she has been a pioneer in every walk of life.
I also think of the extraordinary women of Ghana, who, in every sphere of life, embody strength and determination. You see her in the fields, toiling under the burning sun, with her child strapped to her back, planting and nurturing the earth. You see her as a leader on the world stage, negotiating in international forums. She is a judge, a parliamentarian, a minister, and—above all—a mother, shaping the generations to come” he stated.
Ambassador Kheir disclosed that the gathering was personally meaningful to him because women are, without question, the backbone of every nation’s progress and prosperity, as such, it is an honor to celebrate the achievements of the twenty four outstanding women across the various sectors of the society who were being recognized and awarded for carving out the path to a brighter, more hopeful future.
Ambassador Kheir together with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Professor Lydia Aziato and Independent Presidential Candidate, George Twum-Barimah-Adu crowned the ultimate winner, Madam Belinda Doris Arkorful, CEO of Linda Dor as the Legendary Woman.
