By Gilbert Azeem Tiroog
Bolgatanga, March 24, GNA – The National Peace Council, in collaboration with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), has organised a two-day capacity-building workshop for security personnel in the Upper East Region to prevent violent extremism through social accountability.
The training, dubbed “Responsibility to Protect (R2P)”, brought together 30 officers from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Immigration Service, the Narcotics Control Commission, and the National Intelligence Bureau.
It is aimed at strengthening security-civilian trust to enhance human rights-based approaches to conflict management while preventing mass atrocity crimes, including war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.
The training formed part of the “Preventing Violent Extremism through Social Accountability” (PoVETSA II) project, being implemented by CRS in collaboration with the Peace Council in five regions, including Upper East, Upper West, North East, Savannah, and Northern, with funding from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Mr Frank Wilson Bodza, Deputy Director for Conflict Management at the National Peace Council who addressed the officers, emphasized the importance of equipping security actors with necessary knowledge and skills to prevent violent extremism.
He noted that Ghana remains in a preventive phase, making it crucial for security agencies to adopt proactive measures to address emerging threats.
“We are all working to prevent violent extremism from entering our country. However, in the northern part of Ghana, we face numerous conflicts, such as those in Bimbila, Bawku, and Doba-Kandiga. Unfortunately, when security agencies intervene, there are sometimes excesses and this training seeks to minimize such incidents by reinforcing a human-centered approach to security operations,” he stated.
He highlighted that the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) training aligns with international human rights laws and principles.
“Ghana is not an island. We operate within international laws, and it is essential that our security forces are familiar with global norms and best practices to ensure accountability and professionalism in their engagements,” he said.
Mr Ali Anankpieng, the Executive Secretary of the Upper East Regional Peace Council, emphasized that security was a shared responsibility, and the ability of the security services to
work with civilians would enable them to fast-track crimes in the communities and devise measures to tackle them.
Ms Adelaide Yiriyelleh, Project Manager, PoVETSA II project at CRS, in her remarks, said the training formed part of broader efforts to enhance trust between security agencies and civilians, which is a key component in the fight against violent extremism.
She emphasized that the PoVETSA project aims to improve civilian-security relations, which was crucial for preventing violent extremism, adding that “When there is mutual trust, civilians are more likely to cooperate with security agencies, share intelligence, and work together to maintain peace.”
Ms Yiriyelleh emphasized that the training would enhance participants’ capacity in their daily duties and encouraged them to apply human-centric approaches in their operations.
“We expect that after this training, security officers will integrate these principles into their work, fostering a more responsible and rights-based approach to law enforcement,” she added.
She said the project was currently in its second phase, spanning from 2024 to 2027, and aims to train 150 security personnel across the five regions while similar training has already been organised in Tamale for security personnel there.
GNA
FAA/KOA