Counter-terrorism project for 5 West African countries launched

A Project on counter-terrorism in five West African countries, including Ghana, dubbed: “Strengthening response capacities of state and civil society actors in preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism in coastal states in West Africa”, has been launched in Accra.

The project, which is being supported by the Japanese government, will be implemented by the UNDP and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra.

The other beneficiary countries are Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

Signing of agreement

To kick-start the project, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Tsutomu Himeno, and the UNDP Resident Representative, Dr Angela Lusigi, appended their signatures to the agreement in Accra yesterday.

Activities under the project will include building the capacity of border agency personnel and civil society actors on counter-terrorism and violent extremism in coastal states in the sub-region and improving evidence-based community engagement and cross-country cooperation on countering terrorism and violent extremism.

An overview report of the project indicated that in recent times, terrorism and violent extremism continued to gain momentum in Africa, particularly in the Sahel region, with indiscriminate attacks by militants and extremists on civilian and military populations.

It said the formation of a group known as Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM) in March 2017 had changed the dynamics of violent extremism in the Sahel.

It also noted that the emerging alliance among Ansar Dine, the Macina Liberation Front, Al-Mourabitoun and Al-Qaeda groups in the Maghreb (AQIM) had aided the JNIM to rapidly expand its activities from Mali to Niger and Burkina Faso, with the current geographic focus shifting to Burkina Faso and coastal West African states.

That situation, it said, therefore, called for the strengthening of the capacity of and collaboration among state security agencies and civil society groups in coastal states to prevent those activities from further expanding.

Rationale for support

The Japanese Ambassador further explained that the reason for the support was to ensure sustainable peace in the beneficiary countries for accelerated development.

The UNDP Resident Representative also said most terrorism and violent attacks were as a result of poverty and unemployment and said there was the need to put measures in place to curb the menace.

For his part, the Commandant of the KAIPTC, Brigadier General Francis Ofori, said more than 6,000 fatalities were recorded by the UN in the three Sahelean countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in 2020.

"As recently as June 6, 2021, Burkina Faso witnessed one of the worst terrorist attacks in its northern villages where 160 civilians were killed," he said.

According to him, security was a fluid concept and there was, therefore, the need to constantly ensure that the gaps created by insecurity were always plugged.