The Ghana Institute of Governance and Security (GIGS) has welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution endorsing the Equal Earth map projection as a fair
The report indicates that the Ghana Institute of Governance and Security (GIGS) has welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution endorsing the Equal Earth map projection as a fairer alternative to the centuries-old Mercator projection.
It further notes that gIGS described the resolution as a landmark step towards correcting what it considers more than 450 years of cartographic distortion and restoring Africa’s true geographical scale and significance in the global imagination.
According to the organisation, the resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Friday, September 4, 2026, by 164 votes in favour to one against, with six countries — Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine — abstaining.
It stated the resolution was sponsored by Togo on behalf of the African Union and co-sponsored by the Bahamas, while the United States cast the sole vote against it.
In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Dr David Agbee, GIGS stated the development, together with a separate General Assembly resolution recognising the Transatlantic Slave Trade as one of the gravest crimes against humanity, represented two of the most consequential recent steps by the UN in defence of Africa’s dignity.
GIGS cited remarks by Togo’s Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, ahead of the vote that “a fair world begins with a fair map” and that “a map is never neutral.”
The organisation stated it fully endorsed that position, arguing that maps play a significant role in shaping perceptions of geography, power and opportunity.
“Maps are not passive renderings of geography — they are instruments of power,” the statement said.
According to GIGS, maps influence how children are taught to perceive the world, how investors assess where opportunities lie, how diplomats assess the weight of different countries and how people understand their own place and that of their continent in global affairs.
It is argued that the visual reduction of Africa on conventional maps had consequences beyond cartography.
“A map that visually diminishes a continent of 1.4 billion people does not merely misinform. It conditions generations to underestimate Africa’s scale, its resources, and its significance,” GIGS said.
GIGS stated the Mercator projection, designed in 1569 primarily as a navigational aid for European sailors, had for more than four and a half centuries been widely presented as an accurate representation of the world despite its distortions.
It explained that the projection enlarges areas closer to the poles, including Europe, North America and Greenland, while reducing the apparent size of regions around the equator, particularly Africa.
The organisation pointed to the size disparity between Africa and Greenland as an illustration of the distortion, noting that Africa is in reality roughly 14 times larger than Greenland even though conventional Mercator maps can make their relative sizes appear much closer.
