The West Africa Network for Peace building WANEP –Ghana has held a two days training workshop for inter-party youth dialogue committees and women caucus on election violence, early warning and appropriate responses.
The training workshop brought together representatives from various political parties, the NCCE, Christina and Muslim women groups, persons with disabilities, and a section of the media.
The workshop created a platform for stakeholders to deliberate on conflict prevention and early warning mechanisms, early warning reporting and communication and identification of election related security threats and hotspot ahead of the 2020 general elections.
Project Officer at WANEP-Ghana, Aidan Sabie-Naa speaking to Diamond news on the sidelines of the workshop said the project is seeking to support political parties and CSOs and state actors to identify threats of violence even before they erupt ahead of the 2020 general elections.
He indicated that, activities of state actors like the Electoral Commission can lead to violence if not handled with care whiles the various political parties and their communicators are key players in maintaining peace before, during and after the 2020 elections.
Aidan Sabie-Naa also said the role of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) is critical in ensuring incident free elections owing to their mandate of citizen education on their rights and responsibilities.
Participants of the two days training were schooled on non-violent communication and active listening skills, negotiations and consensus building.
The two days training is part of a yearlong project, facilitated by WANEP and sponsored by the Canadian High commission and Oxfam Ghana.
It is being implemented in eleven constituencies in the Northern, Bono East, Upper East and North East regions which have flash-points for electoral conflicts.
Source: Ken-Zorre A. Edward | www.diamondfmonline.com | Ghana
