Poverty and youth unemployment major instruments for conflicts in Africa-Osafo-Maafo

Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the Senior Presidential Advisor, has urged African leaders to tackle youth unemployment and rising socio-economic inequalities as urgent mitigation measures to prevent conflicts in Africa.

He cited the recent political upheavals in some African countries, leading to the ousting of some heads of state as a clear testimony of deep dissatisfaction among the people, and underscored the need for African governments to address teething socio-economic challenges bedevilling the Continent.

He underlined the need to equip the youth with employable skills by expanding training in entrepreneurial, technical and vocational education in order to avert potential exposure to radicalism and extremist groups.

He also called for deeper reflection on how to address environmental and climate related challenges, promotion of the rule of law, good governance, peace and security, human rights and democracy on the continent.

The Senior Presidential Advisor made the call at the opening of a three-day Inter-Ministerial Africa Union-ECOWAS Consultative workshop on the implementation of Ghana’s Structural Vulnerability and Mitigation Strategy, in Accra on Tuesday.

He said efforts at advancing socio-economic development in Ghana and Africa in general hinged on the maintenance of peace and security and called for evidence-based approach in identifying structural weaknesses in the governance system.

“We need to fashion out strategies to nib the triggers of conflicts in the bud and strengthening resilience structures in the country for the wellbeing and prosperity of our citizens,” Mr Osafo-Maafo emphasised.

Members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the implementation of the 2018 report on Country Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment (CSVRA) and the Country Structural Vulnerability and Mitigation Strategy (CSVMS) were supposed to identify priority areas and ensure smooth implementation.

The Technical Committee will also fashion out financial and technical proposals as well as mobilise resources and roll-out capacity-building programmmes towards the effective and efficient implementation of the report.

The workshop is being attended by representatives from the ECOWAS Commission, African Union Secretariat, Research Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Finance and other development partners.

Ghana is the first African country to present its Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment (SVRA) report for peer-review, which will serve as a yardstick for measuring other African countries.

Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, the Minister of National Security, in his welcome remarks, recalled the country’s chequered history from the era of independence through the various military regimes to the fourth republican constitution, noting that the lessons learnt from the trajectory of nationhood was guiding the current generation.

He, however, called for strengthening of the various governance structures and institutions in order to improve the standards of living.

He mentioned some social interventions including the free senior high school policy, planting for food and jobs and other industrial policies as catalyst for development.