Ghana’s drop on global peace index worrying — Peace Council

The National Peace Council (NPC) has expressed concern over the country’s drop in the Global Peace Index.

It has, therefore, called on all citizens, especially the youth, to do all they can to promote peace in their communities and society.

The Director of Capacity Development and Outreach of the NPC, Janet Sarney-Kuma, who expressed the concern, said the growing trend of unrest particularly in schools was a cause for concern which needed to be addressed.

She, therefore, called on all students and the public to be peace ambassadors to help restore a peaceful atmosphere in schools.

“At the end of the day, we are hoping to build more peaceful students within the schools,” she said.

Mrs Sarney-Kuma made the call during a sensitisation programme by the NPC to foster peaceful co-existence among senior high school (SHS) students in the country.

GPI ranking

Ghana has also slipped from the second most peaceful country in Africa in the 2022 index to the third position and 51st in the world, in the rankings released last June.  

The latest Global Peace Index (GPI), published on June 28, 2023, put Sierra Leone ahead of Ghana as the most peaceful country in West Africa, but Botswana top as the most peaceful on the continent, with Senegal and Namibia, following Ghana in that order in Africa’s top five rankings.

The students

Reacting to this ranking, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the NPC, Rev. Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, attributed the decline to some of the happenings in the country such as armed robbery, highway robberies, as well as attacks on journalists, political violence, and the land guard menace and other perceptions, which all went to inform the rating and compilation of the results.

Sensitisation

The NPC is an independent statutory institution with the responsibility of managing and resolving conflict to ensure sustainable peace.

Its special sensitisation event will see the NPC engaging eight SHSs in the Greater Accra Region on violence, the causes of conflicts, conflict management and conflict resolutions to create sustainable peace in schools.

The programme is a soft approach to educating young adults on how to manage and eradicate rising conflicts in various institutions.

Out of the eight schools, the council has so far visited Osu Presbyterian SHS, La Presbyterian SHS, Accra Academy, Accra Girls SHS, Nungua SHS and Achimota School.

Unity

Mrs Sarney-Kuma indicated that the council would do more of such sensitisation programmes to increase its visibility and revisit the schools, which would be involved in the exercise to introduce peace clubs in SHSs.

The NPC Capacity Development and Outreach director stressed the importance of unity and upholding the good name of their respective institutions and the country as a whole.

“Let us be good citizens and set good examples wherever we are to preserve the peace our country enjoys and collectively achieve great things,” she said.

She advised all students not to fall victim to any form of violence but report perpetrators to the school authorities.

Discipline

The Assistant Head of Administration at the Nungua Senior High School, Matthew Adamani, advised the students to be disciplined in every action taken because “there will never be peace if you are not disciplined”.

He, therefore, urged his students to avoid bullying their colleagues or engaging in any form of conflict or violence.

He also commended the NPC for choosing his school as part of the sensitisation programme.