By Grace Q. Bryant
The Working Group on Women, Youth, Peace and security in West Africa and the Sahel opened its annual conference in Liberia yesterday with calls for more youth engagements at decision making table.
The Resident Representative of the ECOWAS Commission, Josephine Nkrumah, says over billion youth between the ages 15-24 are perceived more as wayward, prone to violence and at-risk constituents of society.
Madam Nkrumah said youths have power to build a culture of peace while preventing and resolving local disputes and therefore their voices must be heard and expressed that, “In our sub region our youths are more the victims of a predatory political environment that plays on their vulnerabilities including high rates of unemployment, prone to drug addiction and violence amongst others.”
According to her, turning the teeming numbers of the youth from a perception of liability to agents of Peace building and national development is the catalyst for the sub region’s development and recommended that workshops and platforms will provide the much-needed skill set those nurtures leadership qualities in the youth for positive contributions to the society.
Madam Nkrumah further explained that without recognizing the youth as significant actors in peace and security, “We will not harness their potential for the benefit not just for society but for themselves.”
She maintained that the important role youth would play in peace and security is premised on the capacities and competencies necessary to make effective contributions pointing out that, “This is so timely as Liberia prepares for elections. Within this context, when Liberia has a predominant youth and women’s population, their voices, their engagement and their place at the table for decision making could not be more important.”
She quoted Section 111, Article 42: 1. which mandates member states to agree on rules to be adopted on the training and development of the youth while Article 43 mandates the commission to put in place all necessary structures within its establishment to ensure the effective implementation of common policies and programs relating to the education and the promotion of the welfare of women and youth.
“I am confident that the regional plans adopted and training they have received would provide the needed impetus to galvanize youth and women to play the role necessary to driving peace and enhancing security,” she concluded.
The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations, Niels Scott also injected that temporary measures need to be in place to have youth in more decision-making positions or spaces in the society adding that it is also key to maintaining stability in ECOWAS and the Sahel.
He also mentioned that violence and inequality among women and girls in decision making are issues that will be addressed be it through quotas, updating laws and other measures while the work is gaining momentum but youth are being seen as perpetrators and violators and are still being left behind.
He reminded the working group that about 70 percent of the population in the Sahel are youth therefore when youth are engaged, they will learn to value their accomplishments.
Meanwhile, the Resident Representative also serving as the keynote speaker at events marking the 41stAnniversary of the establishment of the International Day of Peace under the theme: “Politicizing Ethnicity Threatens Peace and Stability” commended Liberians for maintaining the peace 19 years since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
The ceremony was organized by the Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation, University of Liberia and Ziviler Friedensdienst –Civil Peace Service.
The Resident Representative also seized the occasion to remind Liberians of the conflict triggers, which largely propelled the country into 14 years of civil conflict; ethnicity and tribalism being key factors.
She further recalled the efforts of ECOWAS and the international community in ending that conflict and reaffirmed ECOWAS’s commitment to supporting the Liberian peace architecture.
Regarding ethnicity and its threat to peace and stability, the Ambassador noted that the sub-region has suffered ethnic conflicts, which have led to many civil unrests and asserted that ethnicity in itself is not the cause of conflict, but rather, it is the festering of negative competition for limited resources and services that provides the breeding ground for drivers of conflict and instability.
She further stressed the need for Liberians to foster mind-set transformation, which must be deliberate and intentional to build social cohesion, promote good governance and national development.
