Tackling youth unemployment is key in the fight against violent extremism - NCCE boss

The Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Madam Kathleen Addy has urged the government to focus its attention on youth unemployment in its efforts to fight against violent extremism.

She said the rate of unemployment in Ghana was worrying, adding that it is one of the reasons why the youth are easily lured to join extremist groups. The NCCE boss was speaking at a workshop on countering violent extremism in the country, organized by the Commission in Tamale on Friday, April 28. Madam Kathleen said “Unemployment is a push factor when it comes to young people being lured into joining these kinds of extremist groups. We all know that unemployed is a big issue as well as the state of the economy and so people are struggling and young people are frustrated because they can’t see their future clearly and we are seeing that things like these will be what will drive young people into the arms of extremist which is worrying and disturbing”.

“Violence can never be a solution to the problems we are facing now and so as communities, families, people we must find a way to sit down and resolve our issues and find ways to create a better future for ourselves because the violence will never be a better way to create the better future we want for ourselves. We do not have civil wars in Ghana and so we must work hard to protect that because we are not living in normal times now” she added.

She called for collaboration between the media and security agencies to combat extremist activities, especially in border communities. The NCCE boss noted that the commission was embarking on a Media advocacy campaign as part of activities in the implementation of the National Framework for Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism Project of the NCCE which it launched last year.

The National Framework for Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (NAFPCVET) was developed in 2019 to identify the threats posed by terrorists, fight against extremist activities and implement strategies to curb the rate of terrorist attacks in the country.

The project focuses on the five(5) Regions of the north, the Bono, Bono East, and Oti Regions.

Source: ghanaweb