The Catholic Relief Services has launched the Prevention of Violent Extremism Through Social Accountability (PoVETSA) project in Accra.
The aim is to reduce violence of all forms and build and partner peacebuilding institutions and civil society organizations to increase the trust and confidence of the public in security agencies.
The issues discussed at the launch included current trends of violent extremism, participatory approaches to the prevention of violent extremism in Ghana, Ghana’s vulnerability as well as prevention strategy of violent extremism.
The country’s representative of Catholic Relief Services, Daniel Mumuni, said the organization was committed to promoting peaceful co-existence and social cohesion among conflict groups.
He said the Sahel Region was currently the epic centre of violence and terrorism, which was gradually spreading to the states along the Gulf of Guinea, including Ghana which informed the PoVETSA project.
The Chief Director of the Interior Ministry, Adelaide Annor Kumi, said the threat of terrorism was real and needed to be dealt with, hence, the government had embarked on a sensitization drive and picked up lessons from other countries.
A senior mediation advisor of the United Nations, Emmanuel Bombande, urged the government to partner with other governments in the neighbouring countries to fight terrorism.
Strategic activities as part of the project would be held in Accra, Northern Region, Upper East and West Regions, especially, because the latter three regions are close to Burkina Faso which had recently witnessed violent extremism.
The project was funded by the Netherlands Embassy and implemented by the Catholic Relief Services, Ghana, in partnership with National Peace Council and the Centre for Conflict Transformation and Peace studies.
Dzifa Hukporti, ISD
