National Peace Council called upon Securities and Civilian’s Services to come out with mechanisms to enhance effective protection in the communities.
Mrs Janet Sarney-Kuma, the Director of Capacity Development and Outreach at National Peace Council said the respective roles of security services and humanitarian actors in civilian protection needed serious strengthen to protect the civilians.
She made the call during capacity building and sensitization workshop under the Prevention of Violent Extremism Through Social Accountability
(PoVETSA) Project, for security services on responsibility to protect at the regional level in Tamale.
The workshop organised by National Peace Council in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services and Centre for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies, was aimed at strategically narrowing the gap between security forces and the reality faced by populations at risk of violent extremism and terrorism, genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleaning, and crimes against humanity.
It was also to increase security forces sense of responsibility to civilians, strengthened collection among security agencies.
Mrs Sarney-Kuma advised the participants at the workshop to come out with practice, prioritizing to identify protection challenges and innovations at the local level to better understanding the reality on the ground.
She urged the participants at the workshop to use the knowledge they have acquired to work towards strengthened cooperation between security services and Civilians towards the prevention of violent extremism in the country.
Mrs Alisa Afusah Mogre, Program Manager of Youth and Peace Building Program at Catholic Relief Services indicated that emerging threat of violent extremism in the region has heightened the need for a strategic and contextual approach to preventing violent extremism.
She said key stakeholders and experts in peacebuilding and security in Ghana have all pointed to the rising threat of violent extremism, especially in the border communities of northern Ghana.
“In the context of this wide array of motivations, a socially accountable civilian community and security service is a critical factor in not only combatting violent extremism, but also reinforcing a strong foundation for Ghana’s civic participation”. Mrs. Mogre also highlighted on the PoVETSA Project, and said the project is being implemented by Catholic Relief Services in partnership with National Peace Council, the Centre for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies (CECOTAPS) and funded by Netherlands Embassy.
She stated that the project aims to translate an iterative learning process into a trust-building mechanism for Ghanaian national peace building institutions, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), security services, and civilians.
She said the project is also building on the gains of the Sahel Peace Initiative which CRS has been implementing since 2019 to promote peace and social cohesion in Ghana and the Sahel.
Reverend Father Clement Aapengnue, Team Leader at CoGINTA -GHANA urged Civilians and stakeholders in peace building to work together to support government to prevent terrorism and violent act in the country.
The “forgotten peace formula” for a country seems to be a culture of nonviolence that starts in the families is a theory in the field of “political psychology” / psychohistory. According to Austrian peace researcher Franz Jedlicka countries who want to become sustainably peaceful must reduce violence against children – by establishing a legal ban of child corporal punishment (and of domestic violence against women – like Valerie Hudson suggests). So Ghana should take that step, if it wants to increase peacefulness.