Accra, 4th September, 2017: Hon. Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior, Ghana, has called for action in the pursuit of peace within the country and beyond. Laying emphasis on a quote by one of Africa’s greatest leaders Nelson Mandela, which states, “peace is the greatest weapon any person or community can have for development”, the Hon. Minister stressed that, “it cannot be over-emphasized that peace must be backed by action, and proactivity is the way to go”, he said.

Accra, 4th September, 2017: The Honorable Minister for Defence, Ghana, Mr. Dominic Nitiwul, has opened a two week course at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), on “Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context”. The course which seeks to enable representatives from across the security sector to contribute to the development, implementation and review of national security and defence policies, is aimed, among others, at facilitating inter-ministerial co-ordination on security and defence issues.

Accra, 22 August, 2017: The Women, Peace and Security Institute (WPSI) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) have organized a one-day workshop for security agencies. Held on Tuesday, 22nd August, 2017 at KAIPTC, the objective was to review and sensitize security agencies, primarily female officers, on the Ghana National Action Plan (GHANAP I). Other aims of the workshop was to identify gaps with regards to the implementation of GHANAP I and to offer participants an opportunity to make constructive inputs into the development of the next National Action Plan.

Accra, 14th August 2017: There is no doubt that violent extremism continues to pose daunting security challenges and undermines continental, regional and national peace and security. It is against this background that the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), and the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT/CAERT), is collaborating to organize the maiden Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Course, aimed at building capacities in preventing and countering violent extremism in Africa. The Minister for National Security, Hon. Albert Kan-Dapaah, in his opening address, expressed his delight over the introduction of the course, which he believes will immensely benefit the African continent, “I am particularly excited about this course, in view of the huge threat that violent extremism and terrorism poses to all nations around the world and especially the African Continent”, he said.

Accra, 14 August, 2017: The Minister for Communications, Hon. Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has pointed out that the unavailability of the critical competencies to deal with cyber security issues, is a primary cause of increased global challenges in the fight against cyber security. Hon Owusu-Ekuful cited a 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study - Benchmarking Workforce Capacity and Response to Cyber Risk conducted by Frost & Sullivan early this year, which notes that sixty-six percent of organizations identified the lack of skillset in addressing cyber threats as a major challenge. The study further projected cyber security workforce shortage at 1.8 million by the year 2022.

At a well-attended inaugural Alumni Homecoming event held at KAIPTC on 20 July, several alumni took turns to share the impact of the post-graduate programmes in their personal and professional lives since completion. The event featured keynote speakers and alumni such as Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications, Hon. Gifty Ohene-Konadu, National Coordinator for the ‘One District, One Factory’ programme at the Office of the President, and Mr. Seth Kwame Boateng, Broadcast Journalist, and Past Ghana Journalist of the year. The event was held under the theme “Reconnecting and Networking for Peace and Security”.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Ghana, Mr. David Asante-Apeatu, has highlighted the need to strengthen the rapport between the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), and the Ghana Police Service, to achieve shared goals on peace and security in the nation and beyond. “We can further collaborate to explore other critical areas of policing, including counter terrorism, transnational organized crime, human trafficking and proliferation of small arms”. This move, he believes, will not only be beneficial to the Ghana Police Service, but also other Police Services within the ECOWAS sub-region.

A team of technical experts from the Peace and Security Department of the African Union have visited KAIPTC on a two-fold mission: to hold preliminary discussions on methodology for research on Ghana’s structural vulnerability assessment, and a planned establishment of a National Early Warning Centre at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ghana.