The workshop was held at Wechiau and Gwollu in the Wa West and Sissala West Districts respectively also sought to solicit inputs and address possible concerns of the stakeholders regarding the project ahead of its implementation.

Speaking at the workshop in Wechiau, Madam Selina Owusu, the National Gender Analyst at the UNFPA, explained that it was necessary to engage the stakeholders to court their involvement and support in the project implementation to ensure it yielded the expected outcomes.

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The two-year PBF project dubbed: “Enhancing Social Cohesion and Social Contract, through Empowerment of Women and Youth in three Northern Regions of Ghana”, was being implemented by the UNFPA and the UNDP with coordination support from the office of the UN Resident Coordinator.

It was implemented in partnership with state institutions and ministries, including the National Peace Council and the Local Government and Gender Ministries and Civil Society Organisations.

The UNFPA was implementing the project in the Upper West, Upper East and North East Regions in partnership with the respective Regional Coordinating Councils, Youth Harvest Foundation and ProNet North.

It was implemented in six communities in the Wa West and Sissala West Districts in the Upper West Region.

Madam Owusu, also the UNFPA Focal Person for the PBF project, said it sought to, among other things, foster strong collaborations among state and non-state actors and security agencies to facilitate early response and preparedness to prevent conflict.

It was also to address the multifaceted underlying drivers of conflict in the beneficiary regions.

Madam Owusu said activities of violent extremists in neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali had necessitated the need for proactive measures to prevent those activities from spilling into the country.

She said to achieve that the project would empower women and young people to participate actively in development processes and discussions, promote social cohesion, hold the government accountable to its social contract with the people and prevent radicalism among the vulnerable groups in society.

“Most of the time when women, youth, and all the other marginalised groups are not involved in development for their issues to be included and for their voices to be heard, then they become very vulnerable and they can be radicalised by any groups of interest”, she explained.

She said the impact of conflict was non-respector of persons regardless of one’s social or economic status hence the need for all hands to be on deck to prevent it in the country.

Madam Rita Nyarko, the Project Implementation Partner at the Upper West RCC, observed that women and youth played a critical role in maintaining and promoting peace.

She explained that the project would expose them to the potential impact of conflict on their lives and how they could promote peace in their various communities, districts and the country.

Madam Vida Dorothy, the Wa West District Chief Executive (DCE), thanked the UNFPA and its partners for considering her district for the project and said it would help contribute to the development of the district.

She expressed hope that the project would empower all the stakeholders on the need to “embrace peace in our communities, in our electoral areas, and even in the entire district.”