Validation Workshop to Finalize the Draft Country Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment and Country Structural Vulnerability and Mitigation Strategy of Ghana

Mar 14, 2018 | Articles

From March 14-15, 2018, a Validation Workshop on the Country Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment (CSVRA) and Country Structural Vulnerability and Mitigation Strategy (CSVMS) of the Republic of Ghana was held at the Tang Palace Hotel in Accra. It was to finalize the draft document put together following the workshop in October, 2017.

The CVRSA is based on Article 12 of the PSC Protocol provides for the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) for Africa whose primary objectives are the anticipation and prevention of conflicts as well as the provision of timely policy options. At its 463rd meeting in October, 2014, the PSC held an open session on the theme “Structural Prevention of Conflict – Reinvigorating States in Fragile Situations in Africa” at which it commended efforts by the AU Commission (AUC) to finalize a Continental Structural Conflict Prevention Framework (CSCPF), to facilitate the identification of a country’s Structural Vulnerability to conflict at an early stage. The unique value of the CSVRA is twofold: (1) a focus on structural conflict prevention vulnerabilities, resilience and mitigation strategies; and (2) identifying the specific role of the AU in supporting Member States to strengthen their resilience and address structural conflict vulnerabilities. Ghana is the first to volunteer to go through this kind of assessment in Africa.

The NAPRM-GC is one of four Focal Points the AU is working with in Ghana to craft a CSVMS for the country. The other three are the West African Network for Peace Building (WANEP), National Peace Council, and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC). These four institutions, coordinated by the Research Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, joined the AU Team and a representative from ECOWAS in preparatory meetings ahead of the workshop.

The workshop, which drew participants from state and non-state institutions, in validating the draft report, examined four of seven areas identified by the PSC of the AU namely: 

  • Socio-economic development;
  • Good governance, the rule of law, democracy and human rights;
  • Security sector;
  • Environment and climate change.