The two-day summit which commenced on November 1, 2017, was in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Ghana).

The event took place at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra.

The aim of the summit was to provide an open and all-inclusive platform for young people to dialogue and address relevant issues affecting the youth and also bring to bear innovative ways of ending poverty, gender inequality, unemployment, conflict and other perineal problems affecting the sub-region.

Pivoted on the theme “Youth as Drivers of Sustainable Development”, the conference saw over 300 participants from across the African continent.

Plenary sessions which ran concurrently were held for panels of young men and women to deliver presentations to digest the various SDGs to other participants. One of such presentations that caught our attention was that which bothered on SDG16 – Peace, Justice and Strong institutions – delivered by Adel Abu Baker.

Described by the moderator of the session as “a brilliant student from Lincoln Community School’’, the highly motivated 15-year-old student educated attentive listeners on who had the ‘‘moral and legal obligation to protect refugees and those in danger’’. This and many other questions borne out of curiosity were precursors to embarking on such a project.

According to him, his presentation was inspired by his family’s historical antecedent which was necessitated by the over six decades old Palestinian conflict. He eloquently with a repertoire of facts, journeyed the audience through the hows and whys.

‘‘I decided to go into this topic because I had several questions after looking back at my family history. My grandparents were in Jordan during the war in 1948 and after the war, they were forced to leave the country for better economic opportunities. After that they ended up in Kuwait; my mother was born and raised there till 1990 when Iraq invaded and she was forced to leave the country’’.

His focus was mainly on the Syrian refugee crises largely due to his Middle-Eastern roots albeit he was not oblivious to the African situation and thus the Budumburam refugees who are remnants of the Liberian civil war.

At 14, he birthed the idea of a game board aimed at educating players on the realities of refugees. Although the concept took four months to complete, beginning in September 2016, he flawlessly demonstrated how he has used this “prototype. .  . . to educate my teachers and faculty, some of who are in their forties’’. He believes that age is not a barrier and thus, the change that young people seek to see in the world begins with them.

“Even at my age, only 15 years; look at what I have been able to come up with. So you can imagine the impact we can make as we grow into our 20s and 30s. The change we are looking for can happen if we all become innovative while we are young”.

Beyond the vicissitudes and uncertainties of refugees and the obligations of governments and other stakeholders in protecting these vulnerable ones, Abu Baker is also sensitive to other nagging problems such as people living with cleft lips. Together with his friends at school, he has set up a club whose primary aim is delivering supplies to patients who successfully go through corrective surgeries organised by Operation Smile Ghana. The passion expressed in the light of this warranted the question ‘‘are you a Ghanaian?’’.

Contrary to our expectation, the light complexioned young man with curly hair, sporting a dapper suit and with an American accent replied to our amazement ‘‘yes, sure I am a Ghanaian national. I have been here almost all my life’’.

Adel Abu Baker’s interests lie in International Relations and Political Science and anything that bothers on human rights. He is passionate about helping his community become a better one in whatever way he can. He believes that small beginnings are the stepping stones to greater heights.

The summit is envisaged to be a bi-annual event aimed at elevating the voices of young people like Adel Abu Baker while creating a community of purpose for co-generation of ideas and awareness on the SDGs.

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By: Leonora Amakour Akpey/[email protected]

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The centre also ranked second out of the five institutions on the continent, which appeared on the global list of leading think tanks in foreign policy and international affairs.

It was ranked higher ahead of the Institute for Security Studies and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), all in South Africa, and the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Ghana.

The Global Go-To Think Tank Ranking Index Report, produced annually, is put together by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Programme (TTCSP) of the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania in the US.

More than 7,500 scholars from various universities contributed to the report by using criteria developed by TTCSP.

It also works with experts from the print and electronic media, academia, public and private donor institutions, and governments around the world, to produce the Index that ranks the world’s leading think tanks in a variety of categories.

A total of 6,600 think tanks were ranked in the report.

The aim of the report is to increase the profile and performance of think tanks and raise the public awareness of their important roles in governments and civil societies all over the world.

KAIPTC’s impressive ranking on the Index report, was due to its work in disseminating Africa’s position on peace, security and conflict issues globally through numerous and cutting-edge research publications, policy advice to governmental, non-governmental and private institutions.

The Commandant of the Centre, Air Vice Marshal Griffiths Santrofi Evans, noted that the recognition comes to consolidate KAIPTC’s reputation as a centre of excellence for training, education and research in the sub-region.

He also noted that it would enhance KAIPTC’s visibility and credibility in public policy globally.

Out of the overall listing of 133 institutions on the Index Report, KAIPTC ranked 78th ahead of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) Canada, United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in the Unites States of America, and Amnesty International in the United Kingdom, which  placed 89th, 98th, and 100th respectively.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) established the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in 1998 and commissioned it in 2004.

The purpose was to build upon and share Ghana’s five decades of internationally acclaimed experience and competence in peace operations with other states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region and the rest of Africa.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post KAIPTC ranked top think tank in Africa appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is because there are fewer security officers compared to the number of polling stations where electorates will cast their votes.

There is an estimated 25,000 police personnel, with 29,992 polling stations across the country, according to security analyst, Dr Emmanuel Kwesi Anning.

Kwesi Anning in an interview on The Ghana Report, said the situation raises some concern ahead of Ghana’s general elections in December.

He told host, Bernard Avle, that the situation called for a decision to be taken on the involvement of other uniformed personnel from the Fire Service and other security agencies to help secure polls.

He argued that, the number of Police officers who could actually be deployed to ensure peace at the various polling stations will considerably be less than the estimated 25,000.

“Even if we had 300,000 police officers and you took out those who guard ministers and DCEs and MCEs, that reduces the number considerably. So we need a lot of support from other uniformed officers,” he said.

He however cautioned that the military and the intelligence services must not be engaged directly in the operations.

“In 2012, there were just a little over 3,700 hotspots; In 2016, there are 7,023 out of 29,000 polling stations. That makes it about 25 per cent of all polling stations in the country being violent. That’s translates to a little over 87 constituencies; now if you look at the factual numbers that we have of uniformed officers and the kind of logistics we have, then I don’t think we are being pessimist. It is critical and realistic for those who have this kind of information to raise these concerns,” he said.

‘Police to use recruits in 2016 elections’

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has said that it may have to use the new police recruits to complement the efforts of current personnel in maintaining law and order for the 2016 elections.

There have been many concerns raised about the state of preparedness of the police for the polls, with most people expressing doubt about the capacity of the police to deal with election-related violence and threats.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. John Kudalor, has however given the assurance that his outfit will prepare adequately to deal with any such threat to guarantee the safety of the upcoming polls.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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