Elubo (W/R), May 26, GNA-Mr Tom Norring, the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, has pledged the support of the Danish Government to assist the National Peace Council (NPC) to deliver on its mandate especially combating violent extremism and terrorism in the country.
He said supporting the prevention, and helping to build critical national peace infrastructure was a key priority which made the Danish Government a consistent partner to the National Peace Council since 2016.
Mr Ambassador Norring was addressing participants at a public dialogue and Sensitization on Violent extremism and Terrorism in Border Communities at Elubo in the Jomoro Municipality.
The workshop, the last in the series in border towns, was organized by the National Peace Council with funding from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) for youth groups, religious groups, members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, women groups, the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, traditional rulers and journalists.
The workshop formed part of the Danish government support for the series of public dialogues and Sensitization activities in border communities on important emerging security issues including terrorism and violent extremism in areas that demand attention.
The workshop therefore sought to sensitize people about the need to be conscious of the threats surrounding the country and the potential for such threats to spill over from neighbouring countries and exploit already existing local conflicts to spread fear and destabilize Ghana.
Ambassador Norring lauded the critical role the National Peace Council played in helping the State and citizens maintain Ghana as the beacon of peace in the sub-region.
He said with the support from Denmark and other partners, the National Peace Council has played a vital role in preventing politically motivated violence in the local and national elections.
The Ambassador disclosed that in the run up to the 2020 Presidential elections, Denmark also supported the Peace Council to focus on the role of the media in ensuring that the use of hate speech which could significantly disturb the peace of any country.
He said the Danish-led technology for democracy initiative launched last November, showed digital technology could work for democracy and human rights.
The Ambassador said in terms of radicalism and violent extremism, Denmark applied a multi-faceted approach focusing on preventing people from becoming radicalized in the first place at the same time promoting an effective law enforcement and criminal justice response when the threat materialized in line with respect for international human rights and the rule of law.
He said there were some lessons from the Danish approach to preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization based on extensive multi-agency collaboration between various social service providers, the educational system, the health care system, the police, and the security services.
Ambassador Norring hoped that the series of dialogues and Sensitization would be significant building blocks to counter insidious extremism and terrorism that were gathering momentum in today’s world.
A member of the Western Regional Peace Council Mr.Owusu Sekyere who represented the Regional Chairman, said the insurgence of terrorist attacks in the West-African Sub Region was a wakeup call for neighbouring countries such as Ghana.
He said Ghana cannot be oblivious of the fact that there were prevailing conditions and factors such as lack of socio-economic opportunities.
Mr.Sekyere cited potential causes of violent extremism and terrorism as unemployment, marginalization of the ordinary people, bad dispensation of justice coupled with abuse of human rights.
Mr.Sekyere stressed the need for participants to promote peace and development in their communities.
The Executive Secretary at the National Peace Council,Mr.George Amoh asked people to be well informed about how people overtake others by way of violent extremism and terrorism.
He asked Ghanaians not to toy with the peace in the country and guard against any potential threat that would jeopardize the nation’s peace.
Earlier in a welcome address, the Executive Secretary at the Western Regional Peace Council, Mr.Damien Asobayire lauded support of the Danish government to help the National Peace Council carry out this mandate.
He said the NPC would intensify its Sensitization and information sharing efforts to create the needed awareness about violent extremism and terrorism.
Source: Ghana News Agency
