By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), July 31, GNA â The Upper West Regional office of the National Peace Council has intensified its efforts in enhancing social cohesion and promoting peaceful co-existence in border communities by identifying and empowering community peace champions.
The initiative, âImproving the Economic Resilience of Host Communities for Peacebuilding (Northern CĂ´te D’Ivoire, Northern Ghana)â, was being implemented in the Zini and Kwapun communities in the Sissala West and Sissala East Municipalities, respectively.
It was in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) with funding support from the U.S. Department of State.
Mr Clifford Tampuori, the Upper West Regional Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council said this in a statement to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa.Â
The statement said the intervention stemmed from the influx of asylum seekers, refugees and transhumance from the Sahel region into the Upper West Region, which had strained the limited resources of the host communities, posing a potential risk to disrupt peaceful co-existence in those communities.
It said data from the Ghana Refugee Board indicated that the Upper West and Upper East Regions had received over 15,000 asylum seekers, with the Upper West Region recording close to 7,000 asylum seekers.
The statement further indicated that the Zini and Kwapun communities, for instance, had experienced a significant influx of the asylum seekers and refugees, particularly from Burkina Faso because of insurgencies in that country.
That had made it more imperative for proactive measures to maintain peace while providing shelter for those asylum seekers.
âAs displacement continues into border communities, there is the need for mechanisms or interventions to strengthen economic resilience, promote peaceful resource-sharing and enhance conflict prevention with a strong focus on sustainability and local ownership.
The interventions will target both refugees and host populations in building sustainable peace and resilienceâ, parts of the statement read.
The initiative would enable the UWRPC establish community-based early warning systems and link them with Ghanaâs early warning response mechanisms to strengthen the peace architecture of the communities.
Those community-based warning response mechanisms would also serve as effective conflict prevention and resolution at the community levels.
In furtherance of that, the UWRPC organised a three-day capacity-building workshop for 30 peace champions from the two communities – 15 champions from each community â comprising at least 40 per cent females, on raising awareness of peaceful co-existence and social cohesion.
The workshop, which was held in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality, was aimed to empower the peace champions to help strengthen community resilience and complement the stateâs capacity to prevent conflict and insecurity.
The statement said the UWRPC would engage in regular activities including monitoring to further enhance the skills of the peace champions to enable them to execute their task as expected.
The initiative was to, among other things, establish a functioning community-state coordinated peace mechanisms, and enhance trust and information-sharing between communities and state actors.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali /Kenneth Odeng Adade