“Peace like charity begins at home” Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936).
Northern Ghana has over the years experienced conflicts of different dimensions, including partisan political conflicts, religious differences, chieftaincy disputes and a host of others. These conflicts have severely undermined efforts towards good governance, poverty reduction and the needed development in the five Northern Regions of Ghana. These episodes have been endemic since 1960. Such incidences resulted in destruction of public and private properties, loss of life, political instability and retarded development.
Already, Northern Ghana is underdeveloped and challenged with a host of vulnerabilities. Hence, the tendency for majority of young people who idle under trees to follow the ‘richer purse’ is very high. Young people who take entrenched positions in partisan and religious affiliation are exposed to all forms of vulnerabilities including informal recruitment to neighborhood countries to engage in illicit acts of violence especially in times of national elections and other armed groups such as Boko Haram and the likes. Poverty rates in Northern Ghana are two to three times higher than the national average and chronic food insecurity remains a crucial challenge for these regions,
Yovi works closely with partners to promote peace for social justice, promoting democratic governance for peace & stability, addressing gender inequality and inequity, drivers of conflict and violence extremism in fragile areas such border towns/communities predisposed to conflicts for sustainable development. We enhance awareness raising among local communities targeting women, girls, religious leaders, traditional authorities, in-school youth, political party youth and affiliated groups n dangers associated with political, religious and ethnic extremism and radical positions to address early warning signs.
“Violence is essentially wordless and it can begin only where thought and rational communication have broken down” Mahatma Ghandi