“Peace must be backed by Action” – Interior Minister
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.
He made these remarks at the opening ceremony of the West Africa Peacebuilding Institute (WAPI) course at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).
Hon. Ambrose Dery reiterated that peace is a collective responsibility which needs to be embraced by all for the development of a nation. “The promotion of peace as I have come to appreciate, is not only the preserve of the state or a few. Indeed, the development of a global culture of peace, based on universal human rights and values, reminds us all of our responsibility as global citizens towards the promotion of peace”.
Former Commandant of KAIPTC, and current Board Chairman of the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), Air Vice Marshal Christian Edem Kobla Dovlo (Rtd), highlighted that the course would provide participants with good insights into the processes of developing effective engagement and intervention strategies, policies and conflict sensitive frameworks within a constantly changing and charged environment.
He revealed that the new generation of conflicts and human security threats have devastating consequences on lives and undermine human development, as well as the regional integration agenda of ECOWAS and the African Union.
The aim of WAPI is to provide specialized, intensive, and culturally sensitive training in conflict transformation and peacebuilding to individuals, students (tertiary), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Corporate Institutions, Policy-makers, Government institutions, the Academia and other relevant actors from West Africa and beyond.