Ghana Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment Report launched

By
Patience Gbeze, GNA

Accra, Oct. 25, GNA – Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah,
the Minister of National Security, said Ghana takes “extreme pride” for being
touted as the beacon of peace and stability in the Sub-region and that efforts
must be put in place to safe-guard the peace.

“It is as a result of this that my Ministry,
upon instruction from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, deemed it
appropriate to subject Ghana to the first-ever Country Structural Vulnerability
and Resilience Assessment (CSVRA) process in Africa,” he said.

“…When we were asked to, we accepted the
challenge to be the first country to undergo this process. We accepted it whole-heartedly
because we also wanted to know all analysis and all underlying issues, which
could pose a threat to the peace we enjoy in the country, and that we value so
much.”

Mr Kan-Dapaah, who was speaking at the launch
of the CSVRA Report for Ghana in Accra, said Ghana was excited about the
opportunity to come up with findings that would feed the process to help shape
policies and programmes necessary to address any structural vulnerabilities
that were identified.

The CSVRA was endorsed by the African Union’s
Peace and Security Council in 2015 to facilitate the identification of a
country’s structural vulnerability to conflict at an early stage, with special
emphasis on areas that are relevant in identifying drivers of violent conflict.

The drivers include socio-economic
development, good governance, rule of law, democracy and human rights,
security, environment and climate change; gender and youth; post-conflict
peace-building and transitional justice and reconciliation.

The continental framework was inspired by the
AU’s renewed emphasis on conflict prevention and the decisions of the Assembly
of Heads of State and Government in 2013 in their declaration on “Silencing
Guns in Africa by 2020.”

It is part of the flagship projects and
programmes of Agenda 2063, Africa’s Blueprint for its long-term socio-economic
and integrative transformation.

Mr Kan- Dapaah said Ghana launched her project
in October 2017 and a validation workshop was held in March 2018 to consider
and validate the Report, and expressed gratitude to all who in diverse ways
supported the research team.

He also commended the AU for the establishment
of the Situation Room at the Research Department, which would obviously boost
the country’s early warning vulnerabilities and pledged Ghana’s commitment to
the remainder of the process, which involves the implementation of the
mitigation strategies.

Ambassador Frederic Gateretse-Ngoga, the Head
of the Conflict Prevention and Early Warning Division, African Union
Commission, said the final Report of the Ghana CSVRA highlights issues of
structural vulnerabilities and resilience but also proposes concrete
recommendations to address the vulnerabilities.

It also proposes the strengthening of the
resilience across socio-economic development; governance, rule of law,
democracy and human rights, peace and security, environment and climate change,
and gender and youth.

“Particularly, I am glad to learn from the
assessment that despite the vulnerabilities, diverse resilience factors have
enabled Ghana to prevent and manage violent conflicts including the culture of
peace amongst Ghanaians, reverence and respect for traditional authorities,
respect for human rights, vibrant civil society and media, as well as key
democratic institutions such as the National Peace Council, which is a referral
across the continent,’’ Ambassador Gateretse-Ngoga said.

He reiterated AU’s commitment to supporting Ghana
in implementing the recommendations outlined in the Report, adding that the
Union would organise a forum for Ghana to report on the processes and the
status of implementation.

GNA

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