Peacebuilding and sustaining peace in Ghana

Introduction: Situation analysis

According to the Global Peace Index (GPI), Ghana has been a stable refuge in sub-Saharan Africa, this being a region that has historically being afflicted with violent conflict. In 2012, Ghana was ranked as the 5^th most peaceful State in Sub-Saharan Africa, making it a haven to refugees from the region such as Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan.

Ghana’s description as a basically peaceful nation is also mentioned in Ghana’s medium-term national development policy framework: Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), 2012-2013.

“The general stable and peaceful atmosphere which prevails in the country provides an opportunity to focus on the implementation policies that are required for accelerated growth of the economy and the creation of quality jobs.”

In spite of the global recognition as a relatively stable nation, Ghana has a myriad of perennial conflicts which have at times erupted into violent clashes and if not tackled have the potential of dislocating the nation. There still remains a number of critical conflict drivers such as land and natural resources, chieftaincy, ethnic, religious and socio-cultural disputes.

Many of Ghana’s internal conflicts are initiated by minor disputes at the community level that erupt into violence. Ethnic conflicts, mostly over succession issues in traditional leadership settings or over land use surface periodically. A recent example erupted in February 2010 around Bawku, a flashpoint area, over a long-standing chieftaincy disputes that led to deaths and displacements. While there is no state-driven discrimination against single ethnic groups, the politicization of ethnic loyalties remains a disturbing and potentially dangerous feature of Ghana politics (Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI); Ghana Country Report 2012).

The Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) II, 2014-2017, identifies the need to put an end to inter-and intra-ethnic conflicts, Chieftaincy and political party disputes, which underscoring that left unchecked, conflicts will continue to hinder national cohesion and economic growth.

Thus, Ghana needs to work better together to sustain peace at all stages of conflict and in all its dimensions. Sustaining peace is crucial to preventing the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflict. It is imperative to acknowledge that sustaining peace should be generally understood as a goal and a process to build a common vision of a society, making sure that the needs of all segments of the population are considered.

Sustaining peace is a shared task and responsibility of Government and all other national stakeholders. It is the primary responsibility of the Government and civil society in identifying, driving and directing priorities, strategies and activities for sustaining peace. It should also be stressed here that inclusivity is key to advancing national peacebuilding processes and objectives.

Efforts to sustain peace are necessary not only once conflict had broken out but also long beforehand, through the prevention of conflict and addressing its root causes. In too many places, the cohesion of societies and the well-being of people are at risk. Building a common vision of society must involve paying attention to the causes of those problems.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development contains the blueprint of the common vision of society towards which the world is trying to move. Inclusive and sustainable development not only is an end in itself but also happens to be the best defence against the risks of violent conflict. The 2030 Agenda also contains the promise to leave no one behind in the quest to build such societies.

Typical top-down approaches to peace are ineffectual and unsustainable. “Peace is like a tree; it grows from the bottom up, and community-initiated peacebuilding programs are usually more effective, and allow for more genuine inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups,” (Youssef Mahmoud, IPI Senior Advisor)

Empirical research has demonstrated the key contribution of childhood education in building the foundations for sustaining peace. “Schools that educate children to be for rather than against one another, that teach how to enlarge the ‘us’ to make room for the ‘them,’ that develop abilities to resolve conflicts constructively rather than destructive are the hallmarks of peaceful societies.”

Operational and policy coherence to strengthen support to peacebuilding and sustaining peace

Leadership, accountability and capacity in supporting peacebuilding and sustaining peace

It is important that those in leadership positions in the field receive assistance from Headquarters, including guidance, training, surge capacities, peer-to-peer support and the delegated authority to take calculated risks in support of national priorities – collaborative leadership

Partnerships for sustaining peace

• An ecosystem of partners working in support of Governments is critical for sustaining peace. Regional and district-level organizations play a key role in the peaceful settlement of disputes, including through preventive diplomacy, confidence-building and mediation efforts, preventing violent extremism, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. They also share knowledge, analytical capacity and strong local networks.
• Community-level engagement is another critical component of sustaining peace. Developing participatory approaches that involve civil society and local communities is instrumental in peacebuilding as well as in preventing violent extremism and addressing the conditions conducive to terrorism. This is already taking place in different forms in many contexts but should be continuous and systematic.
• Civil society organizations should include a focus on youth-led organizations, by providing space for youth participation in programming. It is also imperative to ensure an enabling environment for youth organizations and internal expertise to engage with youth.
• Women’s organizations and networks also have important contributions to make in enabling women’s leadership and participation in conflict prevention and ensuring the sustainability of women’s grass-roots peacebuilding. Women’s participation improves prevention efforts and overall security, especially on issues such as the prevention of violent extremism.

Monitoring and evaluation

At a minimum, on a yearly basis, the following monitoring activities should be carried out in accordance with UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP).

• Field visits – this serves the purpose of results validation and should provide latest information on progress of annual reporting preparations. These visits should be documented through brief and action-oriented reports submitted within the week of return to the office.
• Risk log
• Project-lesson-learned log activated and regularly updated to envision ongoing learning and adaptation.
• An issue logs.
• Monitoring schedule plan.
• Quarterly and annual reviews.

Conclusion

The scale and nature of the challenge of sustaining peace calls for closer strategic and operational partnerships among the Government and other key stakeholders, including national, regional and district-level organizations, civil society organizations, women’s groups, youth organizations and the private sector, considering national priorities and policies. In today’s complex world, those partnerships need to harness the energies of all sectors of society.

References

National Peace Council (NPC). Ghana Country Report 2012

Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) I, 2012-2013

Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) II, 2014-2017

Institute for Economics and Peace (EPI). Global Peace Index 2018

UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP) https://popp.undp.org/SitePages/POPPRoot.aspx

UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://www.unssc.org/sites/unssc.org/files/2030_agenda_for_sustainable_development_kcsd_primer_en.pdf (Accessed 1 October 2018)