By Albert Futukpor
Tamale, April 29, GNA – The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has trained its District Directors as part of efforts to enhance their knowledge and equip them with the needed tools for effective implementation of the Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) project.
The training covered areas including the regulatory and national security policy framework on violent extremism, threats and vulnerabilities, signs of radicalisation, peacebuilding mechanisms, terrorism financing, counter arms proliferation, content of a survey of project operational areas, police-community relations, strategic communication for impact, community mobilisation and application of strategies for implementation of PCVE among others.
A total of 150 District Directors of NCCE (put into three groups) drawn from the Northern, North East, Savannah, Upper East and Upper West Regions, and three adjoining regions (Bono, Bono East and Oti) participated in the training.
The training for each group lasted for five days.
The training dubbed: “Training of Trainers”, formed part of the the Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism through promotion of social cohesion, peace and tolerance in the north and other hotspots in Ghana (PCVE) project being implemented in the five regions in the north and the three adjoining regions by the NCCE with funding from the European Union.
The PCVE project is aimed at strengthening of state actors (governance, security, media) and non-state actors at the national and community level in the fight against violent extremism, as well as individuals identified as at risks prevented from joining violent or criminal groups.
Madam Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of the NCCE, speaking during the training in Tamale, underscored the importance of the project to ensuring security in the country encouraging all staff of the NCCE to put in their maximum efforts to ensure its success.
The participants were expected to transfer the knowledge to their subordinates to help in the implementation of the project.
Madam Addy said “The project is going to address the real threat and the real needs of our people. We have to secure the north well so that the rest of the country will be secure.”
She told the participants that funding for the project was granted because of “the quality of our work. This is a make or break project for us. I want the execution of this project to be flawless” saying this would propel the NCCE to other higher levels of trust to earn other funds for its activities.
She thanked participants for the enthusiasm and dedication attached to the project saying such commitment must guide their efforts throughout the execution of the project.
GNA