By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), Nov. 06, GNA – Representatives of the youth in the Wa Municipality have pledged their commitment to become peace ambassadors among their peers, and within communities, as part of efforts to prevent violence extremism in Ghana.
The representatives, including youth groups, camps, and associations within the municipality, pledged to engage their respective orgainsations on the importance of peace and security in society.
In a communiqué issued during a workshop in Wa, the youth also pledged to create peace advocacy groups and engage in social media campaigns on peace and security.
The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in the Wa Municipality organised the workshop as part of implementation of the European Union (EU)-funded Preventing and Containing Violence Extremism (PVCE) project in the Wa Municipality.
Mr Nuurideen Mumuni, the Wa Municipal Director of NCCE, said the workshop was to sensitise the youth to the dangers associated with extremist activities and its threat to Ghana and build their resilience against violence extremism.
He explained that the NCCE was targeting the youth in the violence extremism campaign, because their population was more vulnerable to being recruited by the extremist groups.
The participants were also educated on the early warning signs of violent extremists and their activities to enable them to identify and report suspected extremist activities to the security agencies for the necessary actions to be taken.
“The NCCE considers the youth as a population and once we target and handle them in this manner, we will defuse the tension or aspiration that they have to commit trouble before, during and after the election”, Mr Mumuni indicated.
He said it was observed that Ghana was the only country in the “map of Guinea” that had not been attacked by violence extremists, so the NCCE was engaging the youth to remind them of their civic responsibility of contributing towards maintaining peace and security.
Mr Tahiru Lukman, the Chief Executive Officer of IDEAPATH Consult, who facilitated the workshop, stated that aside the need for a peaceful election, violence extremism had also been a major concern to the country due to extremist activities in the Sahel region and its proximity to Ghana.
He said it was important for young people to understand the extent of violence extremism and the signs of online radicalisation, to mitigate the increasing threat of extremism and radicalisation of the Ghanaian youth.
Mr Lukman mentioned religious, ethnic, and political ideologies as fundamental drivers of violence extremism since people appealed to those ideologies, “so much that they don’t want to see any person with a divergent view”.
He appealed to Ghanaians to learn to respect each other’s ideology, tolerate various ethnic orientation, and have regard for the political views of others, as a unified body with a common destiny.
GNA