KAS Ghana
In recent years, peace and security have become an increasingly important dimension of KAS Ghana’s work. Ghana remains stable, but its security environment has changed considerably. At the local level, longstanding conflicts, often linked to questions of land, resources, traditional authority or political competition, continue to affect individual communities and regions. At the same time, Ghana is increasingly exposed to wider regional challenges emanating from the Sahel and West Africa, including political instability, violent extremism and transnational organised crime, such as arms and drug trafficking and human trafficking.
For KAS, addressing these developments follows directly from its broader commitment to democracy and development: peace and security are fundamental conditions for functioning democratic institutions, political participation and sustainable development. KAS therefore works at different levels. Cooperation with traditional authorities and other community-based actors focuses particularly on local conflict prevention, mediation and social cohesion. At the same time, KAS supports platforms that address the broader national and regional security environment.
An important example is the annual National Peace Conference, organised by the Sahel Peace Initiative (SPI) with support from KAS Ghana. The conference brings together high-level representatives from politics and government, security institutions and the military, civil society, traditional and religious authorities, academia and other relevant stakeholders. It provides a platform to assess emerging security challenges, bring together perspectives that are often discussed separately and develop concrete recommendations for institutions and decision-makers.
This reflects KAS Ghana’s broader understanding of security: sustainable peace cannot be achieved by security institutions alone. It requires dialogue between state institutions and society, functioning mechanisms for conflict prevention and mediation, resilient communities and political responses informed by expertise from different sectors. By connecting grassroots peacebuilding with national and regional security dialogue, KAS seeks to contribute to the resilience and democratic stability of Ghana in an increasingly challenging regional environment.
