The National Peace Council in the Upper East Region has begun steps to increase the participation of the youth and women in peacebuilding along border communities.
Known as the “Strengthen Local and National Mechanisms and Capabilities for Prevention of Violent Extremism and Violent Conflicts,” the activity is a preventive approach to protecting development in the Gulf of Guinea.
As part of the engagements, the Peace Council organized a two-day workshop for women and youth in the Tempane District from February 12 to 13.
Ghana, despite not experiencing any act of terrorism, remains threatened by the activities of extremist groups and will require the participation of all citizens especially those in border communities. The education of the Youth and women is to empower them to be vigilant and to not allow themselves to be recruited and used to cause mayhem.
The activity also seeks to improve the culture of resilience, enhance community cohesion among social groupings, and strengthen partnerships between women and youth groups as well as local authorities.
Speaking during the engagement, the Executive Secretary of the Upper East Regional Peace Council, Ali Anankpieng said it is about time the youth, who are mostly actively taking part in conflicts, became part of the prevention of various forms of conflict and warding off extremists activities since they stand to gain a lot by protecting and maintaining peace in their localities.
While making a passionate call for the youth and women to advocate for the prevention of conflict, Mr. Anankpieng indicated that the youth and women can have a positive impact in de-escalating conflict.
On his part, William Adongo, Project Officer, PVE, UNDP Ghana revealed that a study by his outfit showed that women and youth were not actively taking part in efforts to resolve conflicts, adding the training was meant to build their capacities on the role they could play to prevent and resolve any form of conflict.
He stressed that the UNDP is interested in seeing the youth and women being active participants in the conflict prevention processes.
Taking part in the training, the women and youth expressed gratitude to the Peace Council and its partners for the enlightenment on how they could keep their communities safe.
The project is being funded by the governments of Denmark, Luxembourg, and the Republic of Korea through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
