The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Somaliland Centre for Civic Education Democracy (SCCED) have signed a strategic partnership agreement to enhance civic education in their respective countries and the African continent.

Under the partnership, the NCCE would, among others, provide support and guidance to Somaliland in setting up their civic education infrastructure.

The partnership would also allow the two institutions to share experiences, exchange knowledge, build capacities and institutional development to improve advocacy and networking.

Agreement

At a brief ceremony in Accra yesterday, the Chairperson of NCCE, Kathleen Addy, emphasised the importance of civic education in fostering good civic culture and democratic stability.

She said without civic education, citizens could be easily manipulated by propaganda and misinformation, leading to societal chaos.

She indicated that the signing of the agreement was a bold step towards formalising NCCE’s support for other countries in building their civic education institutions.

She indicated that a lot of countries had, over the years, reached out to NCCE for assistance, leading to the establishment of a consulting wing to provide formal support.

Ms Addy said Somaliland was the first to formalise such assistance through the signing of the agreement.

“We already have several inquiries from countries over the years, but Somaliland has taken the bold step of stepping forward and being the first country that we have a formal and official MOU with to be able to grow on this journey together,” she said.

She expressed the hope of collaborating with other African countries interested in establishing civic education institutions, stating that some challenges such as poverty, hopelessness and instability could be addressed with civic education.

The NCCE Chairperson stressed the importance of activating the agreement immediately, expressing the hope that it would not remain inactive.

She again expressed gratitude for the opportunity to partner with the institution and hoped that many other institutions would follow suit.

Historic partnership

The Director-General of the Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Constitutional Affairs of Somaliland, Khadar Nur Abdi, thanked the leadership of NCCE for partnering with them to improve civic education.

Describing the MOU as a historic partnership, he expressed the hope that the collaboration would foster and create a new threshold within the narrative of their respective institutions.

“The 4th Republic of Ghana is an example of the new hope of Africa when it comes to civic education and democracy and it's a privilege for us to have a formal  partnership agreement with the National Commission for Civic Education of the Republic of Ghana through this partnership,” he said.

He expressed their commitment to the partnership and the hope that it would open new doors of opportunities in civic education.

“Today, it's the beginning to formalise our collaboration but I hope this partnership will be long standing from generation to generation that may facilitate in many ways of  the collaboration between our two countries,” he said.