By Rosemary Wayo
Tamale, July 23, GNA – The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has begun a five-day training for effective communication for Defence and Security Sector Actors (DSSA) in the Northern Region.
The course is aimed at developing the practical skills of personnel in crafting and delivering effective gender-sensitive communication strategies for preventing violent extremism in the country.
It involved intensive learning sessions designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop and implement communication strategies that were culturally relevant to challenges faced by communities in West Africa.
The course is dubbed: “Effective Communication for Defence and Security Actors in Preventing Violent Extremism and Terrorism”.
It is an initiative under the “Strengthening Community Resilience: Preventing Violent Extremism through Effective Communication” project, which is sponsored by the United States Embassy.
Participants are selected high-ranking personnel of the various security services across the northern regions.
Major General Richard Addo Gyane, Commandant of KAIPTC, in a speech read on his behalf during the opening of the training in Tamale, said the course addressed the multifaceted challenges posed by violent extremism and terrorism, which undermined security and eroded the social fabric of communities.
He said effective communication was principal in fostering understanding, promoting resilience, and preventing the spread of extremist ideologies, underscoring the essence of engaging security personnel on the subject.
He noted that participants would be equipped to understand the nature of violent extremism, terrorism, and its impact on societies to enable them to analyse the root causes of radicalisation within a specific regional context.
He said the course included the exploration of the critical role of communication in preventing extremist ideologies to develop practical skills in crafting and delivering effective communication strategies for extremism tailored to coastal West Africa.
Miss Kaitlin Kitchen, Ghana Country Coordinator, United States Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS), addressing participants, said the course was a strategic one on how security services could utilise positive communications to engage with at-risk communities to identify and address the drivers of violent extremism.
She said the course was about using a non-kinetic action to achieve a more peaceful, stable, and prosperous community, adding it was not a tactical course on how to fight violent extremism.
She stated that even though the threat of violent extremism could not be addressed through security services alone, they must be included in the solution.
Ms Kitchen said the United States, under its 10-year SPCPS, had made a commitment to support local communities at risk of expanded conflict as they sought to solidify social cohesion.
She said the United States targeted bolstering the capacity of Ghanaian security services to ensure that the country remained resilient in the face of increasing threats from violent extremist organisations.
GNA