By Anthony Adongo Apubeo, GNA
Bunkpurugu (NE/R), March 21, GNA – Community Peace Agents in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri and Yunyoo-Nasuan Districts in the North East Region have received training on advocacy and lobbying as part of efforts to build sustainable peace at the community level.
The Community Peace Agents comprised various stakeholders including assembly members, youth, women, persons with disability, community leaders and opinion leaders among others, working together to promote peaceful coexistence in their respective communities.
The training was organised by the Good Governance, Justice and Peace Directorate of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocesan Development Organisation (NABOCADO), a faith-based organisation, working to ensure sustainable peace within the Diocese.
It was part of the Integrated Peacebuilding for Improved Food and Nutrition Support (INPEACE) project, funded by the MISEREOR and aimed at contributing to strengthening stakeholder collaboration for peacebuilding.
The training was to enable community peace agents to develop the advocacy and lobbying skills to build resilient networks and support to rally major stakeholders and the communities towards preventing conflicts and ensuring justice for the vulnerable.
Dr Joseph Bangu, the Director of Good Governance, Justice and Peace, NABOCADO, at the training, said peacebuilding and conflict prevention was a collective responsibility of stakeholders and it was imperative for the agents to form alliances with stakeholders to achieve maximum impact.
He noted that although mediation and negotiation had always been used in peacebuilding processes, building the capacities of Community Peace Agents to lobby influential and decision-making people within the communities would help see the impact of their decisions and actions and would chart the path of peace.
“The Community Peace Agents cannot do the work alone, they need to form alliances and build networks, get some influential people within the community like the chiefs, the queenmothers and the youth to buy into their advocacy with the evidences presented to promote peace,” he said.
Working with the Community Peace Agents had the tendency to reduce chieftaincy and land related disputes, which had been the bane to development in many communities in the area.
He said the peace structures had already been established at the district and regional levels and training of the Community Peace Agents was to reinforce such structures at the community level to help address grass-root level challenges.
“We have developed a draft of an advocacy strategy to enable them speak to the issues at the community level and taking advantage of certain platforms like the radio, durbars and others to advocate peace,” he said.
Making a presentation on advocacy and lobbying, Reverend Father Bukuru Venant, the Assistant Parish Priest, St Simon and Peter Parish, Nakpanduri, said peacebuilding required inner motivation to embrace peace, which would help to advocate peace at the community level.
He urged the Community Peace Agents to build networks and be strategic to enable them to be adaptive to different situations and influence stakeholders especially those at the community level to work together.
Mr Yidana Abdul-Rauf, the Jimbale Junior High School Peace Club Patron, said the training had enhanced his knowledge and skills and that of his colleagues had boosted their capacity to engage relevant stakeholders to ensure sustainable peace and security for community development.
GNA