The Coastal States Stability Mechanism (CSSM) has held a Ghana National Senior-Level Strategic Dialogue in Accra aimed at strengthening the partnership to avert violent extremism. The dialogue also focused on promoting peace and stability in Northern regions susceptible to emerging threats.
The Minister for the Interior, Hon. Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, in his speech, labelled Ghana as an example of peace in the sub-region. He emphasized that to ensure peace and stability, there should be a conscious effort geared towards putting measures in place to enhance that.
He reiterated that peace does not occur by itself, but rather is championed by people. Deliberate measures put in place are what ensure the stability of a community. Peace and stability are achieved when individuals become one and make a conscious effort, which will result in peace.
The Need For Collaboration Among Institutions
Hon. Muntaka pointed out the need to collaborate between state institutions, development partners, and local communities to ensure stability. The Minister also highlighted the need for interventions and initiatives to help tackle the root causes of some of the violence.
Some of the root causes are unemployment, discrimination, poverty, and lack of good education, which makes people join armed groups. In this era of increasing insurgencies, there is a need for timely and strategic initiatives to be put in place that are targeted at addressing the causative factors.
The Minister for Interior, Honorable Muntaka, pointed out that, indeed, Ghana is enjoying peace and stability, and this has been for a long time, yet he warned that Ghana is not immune to terrorist attacks. This therefore necessitates the need for measures to be put in place to ensure that in such emergencies, the country will be able to defend the citizens and ensure their safety.
The Minister also reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to deepen coordination across sectors and sustain long-term efforts to prevent the spillover of violent extremism from the Sahel. There is the possibility of conflicts spilling over from one country to the nearest country that shares the same border.
Ghana shares a border with countries that have already had instances of terrorist attacks; as such, there is a need for proactive measures to be put in place to strengthen the security both at the border and inwardly. Without having such measures, the terrorist can easily penetrate and cause unrest and instability.
Honorable Muntaka, in his speech, reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to ensuring that Ghana maintains the stability we enjoy and further prevents violent extremism. This will include strengthening the security sectors to enhance their operation, as well as critically assessing migrants who cross the border to Ghana.
“The Minister also reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to deepen coordination across sectors and sustain long-term efforts to prevent the spillover of violent extremism from the Sahel.”
Ministry of Interior
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the implementing partner for the multi-donor Coastal States Stability Mechanism initiative, hosted the high-level engagement.
Ms. Fatou Diallo Ndiaye, Chief of Mission for IOM Ghana, in her speech praised Ghana’s strong leadership and ongoing restructuring in the provision of security in the country. The country has taken deliberate efforts to enhance security within the country and its borders.
She further pointed out IOM’s commitment as vital and the collaboration strongly needed to complement Ghana’s efforts. She assured the people present of continued assistance to strengthen state presence and community resilience in priority areas.
“The dialogue is expected to yield concrete recommendations for strengthening the implementation of stability-focused programs in the targeted Northern Regions.”
Ministry of Interior
The program was also attended by the Regional Ministers from the Upper East, Upper West, and Savannah Regions, where the Coastal States Stability Mechanism CSSM programming is aimed at increasing locally accepted state presence, improving service delivery, and building community resilience against drivers of instability such as limited economic opportunities and exclusion.
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