By Philip Tengzu
Dorimon, (UW/R), Aug. 20, GNA – PronetNorth, a Non-governmental Organisation (NG0) in the Upper West Region, has engaged the people of Dorimon, a community in the Wa West District towards building peace in the community through fostering inclusive and participatory decision-making processes.
The initiative formed part of the implementation of the UNFPA Peace Building Fund (PBF) project in some border districts and communities in the Upper West Region, which sought to prevent conflict in the region.
Over one hundred people in the Dorimon community who comprised traditional, religious and opinion leaders, women and youth attended the forum held at the weekend.
Addressing the people at the forum, Mr Valentine Danuor, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer at PronetNorth, said the project had become necessary due to the influx of asylum seekers in the region from neighbouring countries in the Sahel including Burkina Faso and Niger that were affected by insurgences and other uprisings.
He said there was, therefore, the need to maintain peace in the north and to build resilience in the area against conflicts, which could serve as breeding grounds for the insurgencies to thrive.
“The Wa West District and for that matter Dorimon is very close to the Burkina Faso border so we are trying to take some preemptive and preventive mechanisms to maintain peace instead of waiting for the conflict to occur before we come in to manage,” Mr Danuor, who is the UNFPA PBF project Implementing Partner Focal point, explained.
He explained that one of the strategies they had employed in the PBF project was ensuring gender inclusivity and participatory in decision-making and peace building processes with focus on women, children, and the youth.
“We know that there are gender issues associated with conflict especially women, children and the youth who are most affected during conflict.
We are trying to engage them so that there will be some level of social inclusion in terms of decision making and participation in community development because most at times they are left out”, Mr Danuor added.
He observed that the project engaged the traditional and religious authorities because they were the custodians of the norms, rules, and regulations of the society for them to appreciate the need to include the youth and women in the decision-making and peacebuilding processes.
The discussions centered on religious and cultural beliefs of women inheritance, their participation in decision-making and their rights and responsibilities, among others.
He expressed hope that women and youth inclusion in decision-making would be inculcated into their community action plans.
Naa Sidiqui A. Sanga, the Chief of Dontanga in the Dorimon Traditional Area, thanked PronetNorth and its partners for extending the project to their communities as that would contribute to sustaining the peace in the community and the district as a whole.
Madam Mariama Daar and Madam Mari Daudi, Women’s Group Leaders in Dorimon, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the forum, expressed hope that such engagements would help reduce the gender segregation in decision-making and other cultural and social norms against women.
GNA