Support Conflict And Crisis Management Programmes

Mr Ambrose Dery, The Minister of Interior has urged Ministries, state departments and agencies and the media to support in finding innovative plans to manage conflict and crisis.

He said the issue of conflict and crisis management was important and therefore, there was a need for well-rehearsed plans to enable stakeholders to be clear of their roles.

He was speaking at the closing ceremony of a conflict and crisis management course organised by the Ghana Armed Forces and Staff College (GAFSC) on Friday.

Mr Dery commended the GAFSC for introducing and sponsoring 'innovative programmes' in its curricula to bring together agencies of state to learn and deliberate on finding solutions to issues of national importance.

'This initiative is commendable and I urge ministries, departments and agencies as well as our media houses to render the necessary support to sustain the programme,' he said.

He said that, when conflict degenerated into crisis, the very survival of humanity was put to test, saying that, it was important for the country to pay attention to issues of crisis management.

'Events around us and the world over have challenged our generation to come up with innovative ways of addressing the numerous conflict and crises confronting us. This challenge emphasises the need for priority attention that this peculiar area demands.'

He said a key objective of the course was to create and reinforce links between personnel and agencies, adding it was crucial in any crisis management situation.

'Crisis management is a multi-agency task which requires several and varied skills and capabilities. No single agency can possibly develop all capabilities required to manage even the simplest crisis.'

The conflict and crises management course which is geared towards inter-agency cooperation in the management of conflict and crisis saw 110 students being awarded with certificates for successfully completing the course.

The programme was funded by the British government and run for one year with nine other African countries subscribing to it.