Q. What module did you find most interesting?

I enjoyed taking “Building Community Resilience and Synergy against VERT” as somebody who is passionate about community development and have been working with communities. It has really exposed me to understand the ways to deepen social cohesion between communities while also paying attention to threats to terrorism. 

I also enjoyed the “Women and Youth in VERT”. I never really paid critical attention to the fact that women are not only victims but could also be used as perpetrators of violent extremism and terrorism. This has opened my understanding that women and youth play significant roles in our communities and they must be actively involved in various activities concerning prevention and countering violent extremism and terrorism. Since coming back to Tamale after the course, I have started incorporating the knowledge that I have learnt at KAIPTC. when conducting community outreach programs. It has been very helpful, particularly working in the northern region being so close to the border of Burkina Faso. 

Q. What stood out the most from attending the course? 

I have joined quite a number of  capacity-building programs that have to do with Violent Extremism, Radicalization and Terrorism (VERT), but this course was so detailed. It was insightful having the practical session where we had the opportunity to visit the Ghana Police Service and Army Engineering Training School. 

I remember when we went to the Army Engineering Training School and there was this demonstration on the impact of improvised explosive devices. When it happened, Everybody was running away from the scene. Then, a female participantfrom Burkina Faso was just saying that they have been experiencing the attacks and all that. Hearing that kind of sound, you instantly know how devastating and frustrating that can be to your mental health. She has heard this sound several times and yet she is so strong. I feel as a woman, I could get the connection. 

Q. How was the interaction with other participants? 

It was really great having our neighbours from other African countries, including those from Francophone countries. It opened my eyes, listening to the experiences of other participants and how it has affected them, particularly those from Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin and Nigeria. Some participants shared their experiences hearing gunshots and witnessing attacks, which is something I have not been exposed to in Tamale. 

I was also excited to see when one of the participants from Mali shared her experience working in the area of violent extremism and terrorism. It meant so much seeing women talking about these issues and she really knew so much about what she was talking about. So I think it was wonderful not only being able to share the experiences that we have been confronted with in our countries but also collectively putting all our efforts together to try to prevent violent extremism and terrorism. Because it doesn’t only affect women; it doesn’t only affect men or only children. But it affects the country; it affects Africa as a continent. 

We were also able to establish a good relationship with participants from other countries. Even after the course ended, we have been updating each other and what is happening in our country – using social media to advocate and contribute to a positive change. 

Q. Did you encounter any challenges participating in the course?

The only challenge I can think of is that I wish I could talk more freely with other participants from francophone countries. Because of the language barrier, it was difficult to have one-on-one conversations. During the course, the interpreters did an excellent job by always translating every bit of what francophone speakers were saying and not creating any gap between “we” (anglophone) and “them” (francophone). But as you spend more than one week with them, you sometimes just want to be able to speak freely with them. In the end, we communicated via text messages, using automated translation.

Q. What was your overall experience joining the course? 

As somebody who works with communities, this course exposed me to understand things that I didn’t pay attention to. I was also able to make a lot of networks among other participants from other countries. I learned a lot and it went beyond my expectations. It was something that was needed and I am forever grateful to all partners for taking the initiative and recognizing the efforts we, as civil society organizations, play at small levels. I hope that more opportunities will come to build more capacity building and transfer what we have learnt back to our societies to build a better community, a better society and a better world. 

Q. What can be done to improve the current security situation in the Sahel and West Africa?

I think what we need to do is to try to build a strong and healthy relationship with other African countries and enhance our capacity building for those who need it. 

In the northern regions where I work, the situation in Bawku is something that has been there for so many years. It has created a lot of fear in the hearts of so many people in the northern regions and even the country because it doesn’t only affect the people living in the north of Ghana; it also affects people who are being transferred from Accra or Kumasi to work in the region. Having interacted with several people in the regions, we have more foreigners entering into the north and we don’t know what routes they used to come in. Knowing the crisis of Bawku and some parts of the region facing chieftaincy conflicts, we can’t say that it is safe for us to always have people coming in. From the training, it was discussed that terrorists take advantage of areas that have no stability. So I think it is important for the security to pay close attention to the area, and build capacities and build very good relationships with other neighbouring countries.