The Upper West Regional Secretariat of the National Peace Council has advocated the need for close collaboration between the media, the security agencies as the government to prevent violent extremism in the country.
It said the Peace Council believed that the media wielded the reserved power to inform the public of the dangers associated with violence extremism and the need to avoid it in all its forms.
Reverend Dr. Aloysius Nuolabong, the Upper West Regional Chairman of the National Peace Council said this at the opening of a three-day capacity building workshop for representatives of radio stations in the region.
The workshop was to, among other things, let participants understand their roles in escalating or reducing vulnerabilities that push or pull people into violent extremism.
It was part of the USAID/OTI-funded Littorals Regional Initiative (LRI) programme framework for five West Africa countries along the cost - Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Guinea and Benin – to withstand the threat of violent extremism by addressing factors that could lead to violent Extremism.
Those factors identified included local conflicts, ethno-religious migration and lack of understanding of the threat of violent extremism.
Rev. Dr. Nuolabong explained that issues of climate change, terrorism, COVID-19 and the threat of nuclear war had been a threat to peace and security in the world and expressed optimism that the media had the a crucial role to play in averting terrorism in the country.
That, he said, could be achieved through reporting on issues of violent extremism and sensitising the people to the consequences of violent extremism which was the breeding ground for terrorism.
“The journalists can use effective communication through their outlets to resolve conflicts and to promote unity and human life”, he intimated.
On his part, Mr Emmanuel Danyomah, the Upper West Regional Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, observed that Ghana was to immune to terrorist attack and called for concerted efforts of all stakeholders including the media to prevent its occurrence.
“The initiative is not everywhere; it is only in northern Ghana because northern Ghana happens to have the border towns in the country. Apart from Aflao, northern Ghana is of serious threat.
“So the programme seeks to support governance through collaboration with local governance, Civil Society and communities to help build more resilient, strong communities that can withstand the influence of terrorism”, he explained.
Available data indicates that over 60,500 terrorist incidents have been recorded globally from 2007 to 2021, with 5,226 attacks in 2021.
This resulted in 7,142 deaths globally with 3,461 deaths from Sub-Sahara Africa within the period.
He therefore said the USAID/OTI LRI programme was “working in communities to help local stakeholders establish approaches to combating VEO (Violent Extremism Organisation) incursion and expansion.”
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