Ghana is set to implement the Country Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment (CSVRA) and Country Structural Vulnerability Mitigation Strategy (CSVMS) after going through a successful assessment phase.
This will help facilitate the identification of the country’s structural vulnerability to conflict at an early stage, with special emphasis on areas that are relevant in identifying drivers of violent conflict; socio-economic development and good governance, rule of law, democracy and human rights, security sector, environment and climate change, gender and youth, post-conflict peace building and transitional justice and reconciliation.
The CSVRA and CSVMS frameworks, which are under the auspices of the African Union and ECOWAS assesses a country’s vulnerability to conflict by identifying structural defects or resilience indicators to anticipate and prevent conflicts as well as provide timely policy options for the mitigation of same.
Being the first country on the continent to undergo this structural vulnerability assessment in 2018, Ghana has committed to implementing these frameworks as part of strategic and medium to long-term measures designed to address the country’s structural vulnerabilities.
Giving the Keynote address to reiterate Ghana’s commitment at the Inter-Ministerial, AU-ECOWAS Consultative Workshop on the Implementation of Ghana’s CSVRA-CSVMS in Accra yesterday, Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo said government will do all it takes to ensure successful implementation of the identified strategies in the framework.
“Our achievement as the first country in Africa to have completed the CSVRA process is commendable since it has become a trail blazing event that has so far attracted other countries on the continent to follow our footsteps. But what is more creditable for Ghana and the continent, is to demonstrate effective and efficient implementation of the CSVRA and the CSVMS for them to attain their purpose.
“Having gone through the process successfully, our task at this stage is to ensure that we put in place an effective mechanism that will ensure the implementation of the recommendations in the CSVRA and the CSVMS report of 2018. Evaluation and the monitoring of our implementation of the CSVRA and the CSVMS should be critical components of the mechanism for implementation,” he added.
Mr Osafo-Maafo expressed the readiness of government in implementing the framework and encouraged all partners and stakeholders to contribute towards this direction.
Present at the event was Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah; Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Sarpong-Ampratwum; Representatives of AU, ECOWAS and Development Partners.
On his part, Mr. Dapaah reiterated Ghana’s commitment to advance the cause of peace, security, and democratization on the continent. He said Ghana is noted to be a peaceful country and the report would help to further enhance peace and security in the country.
The AU and ECOWAS representatives also expressed their appreciation and gratitude to government and people of Ghana for championing the cause of structural conflict prevention in Africa, and for its role in the maintenance of peace in the region as well as on the continent.