By Ibrahim Nurudeen
Tamale, July 24, GNA – The National Peace Council has trained 30 people as voluntary monitors on early warnings and response mechanisms to help prevent violent extremism and election related violence ahead of this year’s polls.
The training was with support from the Catholic Relief Services and the Kingdom of Netherlands, and the beneficiaries were drawn from the Savannah, North East, Upper East, Upper West and the Northern Regions.
Topics treated during the two-day training, which ended in Tamale, included violent extremism, ethical consideration in violent extremism, overview of early warning signs, principles of violent extremism and early warning indicators, Ghana’s National Early Warning System, gender dimensions in violent extremism amongst others.
Mr Frank Wilson Bodza, Deputy Director, National Peace Council in-charge of Conflict Management, speaking during the training, expressed optimism that it would sustain the country’s peace and stability.
He gave the assurance that the National Peace Council was determined to ensure peaceful elections this year adding, “The previous elections, we had people losing their lives through some disagreements. We don’t want such things to happen again in 2024. We want to see this year’s elections as peaceful as any other day in our country.”
He urged Ghanaians to be alert of any potential threat, and conflict during and after the elections adding “This will inform the strategies to prevent it and this is in line with our mandate as National Peace Council to facilitate and develop mechanisms for conflict prevention, conflict management and conflict resolution and sustain the peace of the country.”
He advised political actors to be measured in their utterances during campaigns.
Miss Adelaide Yiriyelleh, a Representative of the Catholic Relief Services, said the organisation would continue to support trainings on peace during and after elections to ensure peaceful atmosphere.
She advised participants and the youth to be part of efforts at preventing violent extremism to help build a safe and inclusive society.
Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani, Council Member of the Northern Regional Peace Council, urged media practitioners to guard against bias in their work, and be fair and credible.
He advised the youth to use their social media handles responsibly, stating that the interest and development of the country must supersede any other interest.
GNA