Cadet trainers schooled on youth conflict resolution initiative
Seventy school cadet corps trainers from schools in the Ashanti Region have undergone a one-day training programme on conflict resolution and security, and safety awareness in Accra.
The workshop introduced participants to key mediation concepts, youth safety and security awareness practices and the importance of early conflict intervention in school settings.
Put together by the Gamey and Gamey ADR Institute and the Misornu Safety Centre, a public service non-governmental organisation (NGO), the training was part of a national programme aimed at tackling the growing concerns of violence and disputes in schools, especially in second-cycle institutions.
Known as the National Youth Conflict Resolution and Security Programme, participants were equipped with vital skills in safety and security awareness, conflict prevention and peer mediation.
The programme, which was launched in collaboration with the National Cadet Corps, seeks to create a generation of school-based mediators through the training of school cadets as conflict resolution ambassadors.
As part of the initiative, mediation clubs will be established in schools across the country to foster a culture of peace, discipline and volunteerism.
It was held on the theme: “Enhancing youth discipline and volunteerism through cadet-based security awareness and mediation”.
The training offered practical tools for building a more peaceful and secure school environment.
Speaking at the workshop, the Executive Director of the Misornu Safety Centre, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), David Eklu Retd, emphasised the need to build safety consciousness among young people both in and out of the classroom.
According to him, “security always starts with awareness”, adding that “when students understand the risks and learn how to respond to threats, they become agents of safety within their communities”.
He advised the trainers to be good ambassadors of peace in their schools.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gamey and Gamey Group and a renowned ADR expert, Austin Gamey, took the participants through the fundamentals of preventive mediation, with a focus on perception and the retaliatory cycle, two major triggers of youth conflict.
“Many disputes arise not from facts, but from how situations are perceived,” he said, explaining that by teaching students how to identify triggers and effectively engage to resolve conflicts constructively, “we are helping to build a culture of tolerance and dialogue”.
He added that the Youth Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Programme was designed to help young people resolve differences peacefully, prevent retaliatory behaviour and create supportive school environments where discipline and cooperation coexisted.
The workshop marked the first in a series of regional training sessions that would ultimately lead to the nationwide formation of mediation clubs and peer-led safety networks in schools.
In addition, he said the initiative offered a transformative approach to tackling youth violence by focusing not on punishment, but on empowerment and personal responsibility.
