By Gilbert Azeem Tiroog
Bongo-Soe (U/E), Nov. 22, GNA -The National Peace Council, (NPC) in collaboration with the STAR-Ghana Foundation and its consortium partners, has equipped women in the Bongo District with peacebuilding skills to champion community cohesion and resolve conflicts toward enhancing development.
A total of 40 women, drawn from the Bongo-Soe and Namoo communities, were trained in mediation, gender equality, and community-level peacebuilding to help build resilient and safe communities capable of resisting violent extremist exploitation across northern Ghana.
The training formed part of the eight-month Strengthening Systems for Resilience Against Extremism (SURE) Project, implemented with partners including the West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism and the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa.
Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office through the West Africa Security Programme, the intervention was part of the project’s inception activities aimed at strengthening women’s leadership in conflict resolution, community dialogue, and early warning systems in border-prone communities, dubbed Women Peace Circles (WPCs).
Mr Damien Asobayire, the Upper East Regional Executive Secretary of the NPC, said the introduction of the WPCs under the project marked a “novel and strategic shift” in local peacebuilding efforts.
He noted that although women had long contributed to resolving community conflicts, the SURE Project was the first to establish dedicated all-women structures mandated to mediate minor disputes and support early warning and response mechanisms.
“This concept is different from what we’ve been doing. For the first time, a project is targeting only women and empowering them to take the lead in conflict resolution,” he said.
He added that “After their training, they developed action plans to address issues in their communities. They will also serve as the eyes and ears of the National Peace Council by identifying early warning signals and referring complex cases for appropriate action.”
The Executive Secretary explained that each group drawn from the two communities now had a five-member leadership structure to undergo further leadership training, adding that the WPCs had become a permanent peace infrastructure within their communities.
Mr Asobayire noted that some cultural barriers often hinder women’s participation in decision-making, but the Council and partners had already engaged traditional and religious authorities to secure their acceptance and support.
“We have sensitized chiefs, elders, and religious leaders on why women must be allowed to participate in peacebuilding. The next step is to formally introduce the women’s groups to these authorities so they understand that the women are there to complement and not replace their roles,” he said.
Pognaba Veronica Atanga from Namoo, a beneficiary, said the training had enlightened her on the tactics used by extremist groups, especially in border communities.
“We were shown how these violent extremists dress, how they talk, and even how they buy things. Food sellers and market women can identify them through their behaviour. They taught us that we, the women in the community, are now the eyes and ears of the community and must remain vigilant,” she said.
Another participant, Madam Mary Adoku, from the Bongo Soe community, said one of her biggest lessons was understanding how extremist groups recruit unsuspecting individuals.
“We learned that extremists can recruit our own people, who may later return to cause harm. We also learned how to protect our children, especially those using smartphones. Recruitment does not only happen face-to-face but also through phones, and so we will go round to sensitize our people, having been empowered,” she noted.
The WPCs constitute a key pillar of the SURE Project’s gender-responsive approach, directly contributing to community resilience against extremist exploitation while strengthening social cohesion and community-security relationships.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Lydia Kukua Asamoah