Mr Joachim Elbazar, the Nabdam District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Upper East Region, has urged the youth to promote peace and guard against acts of violent extremists. 'Peace is an important ingredient that must be part of us as living beings and as the youth of Nabdam, it is incumbent on us to promote peace all times as article 41 of the 1992 Constitution clearly spells out …', he said. 'We want the youth, especially in Nabdam, to understand that it is our responsibility to promote peace within our communities so that together we can prevent and contain the activities of violent extremism'. Mr Elbazar was addressing the youth at Kongo on the sidelines of an inter-cluster schools football game, organized by the Nabdam District Assembly in partnership with the National Youth Authority. He said the extremists usually enticed the youth with 'fancy stuff' they yearned to acquire in their bid to recruit them, hence the need to sensitise and guard them against those threats. The games were part of the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion Project (SOCO) and were held on the theme: 'Enhancing Social Cohesion and the spirit of Volunteerism among the youth; Focusing on Entertainment and Socialization.' The SOCO project is a five-year multi-country US$450 million credit facility from the World Bank, implemented in Ghana, Cote d`Ivoire, Togo and Benin. Ghana was allocated US$150 million out of the total amount. The Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development is implementing the project in six regions: Upper East, Upper West, North East, Northern, Savannah and Oti. It is aimed at the prevention of conflict spillover from the Sahelian countries by improving social and economic resilience of the targeted regions of the North and strengthening regional dialogue across the Gulf of Guinea countries. Mr Samuel Larbi Agyarko, the Zonal Coordinator for Upper East and North East Regions, said the rationale behind the project was to bring change and development. However, that could only be achieved when there was peace, he said, and called on the youth to involve themselves in the SOCO activities and tap the opportunities.

Source: Ghana News Agency