ashanti region: The Ashanti Regional Peace Council has tasked Community Youth Peace Ambassadors to lead grassroots peacebuilding initiatives in their communities to promote social cohesion and prevent conflicts.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Council urged the ambassadors to translate the knowledge and skills acquired during a regional training workshop into practical interventions, including community dialogues, school peace clubs, anti-violence campaigns, and social media peace campaigns. Dr. Harriet Takyi, the Ashanti Regional Chairperson of the National Peace Council, made the call at the opening of a training workshop for Community Youth Peace Ambassadors drawn from 12 constituencies in Kumasi.
The workshop, held on the theme: 'Empowering Young Leaders for Peacebuilding and Social Cohesion,' sought to equip participants with practical knowledge in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, leadership, and community engagement. Dr Takyi emphasized the significant role young people play, noting their capacity for energy, innovation, and influence in mobilizing peers for positive change. However, she cautioned that the same youthful energy could be harnessed to fuel violence, extremism, and intolerance if not properly guided.
Dr Takyi stressed the importance of recognizing young people as partners and leaders in peacebuilding rather than merely beneficiaries of peace programs. She encouraged participants to undertake at least one peacebuilding initiative upon returning to their communities and suggested establishing school peace clubs, organizing community sensitization programs, promoting religious tolerance, and leveraging digital platforms to spread messages of peaceful coexistence.
Peacebuilding, Dr Takyi noted, extends beyond the absence of violence and requires respect for diversity, dialogue, justice, inclusion, and cooperation among community members. She urged youth ambassadors to identify early warning signs of conflict-such as rumours, hate speech, threats, growing hostility, and provocative statements-and report them through appropriate channels before they escalate.
Dr Takyi also cautioned against using social media to spread misinformation and inflammatory messages, which could heighten political, ethnic, and religious tensions. She advised verifying information before sharing it and using digital platforms to promote tolerance, responsible citizenship, and peaceful coexistence. Furthermore, Dr Takyi called on the ambassadors to lead by example, demonstrating honesty, respect, impartiality, and compassion in their daily interactions.
She emphasized that peacebuilding requires collaboration among traditional authorities, religious leaders, schools, civil society organizations, local government authorities, security agencies, the media, and young people.