Chairperson of Ghana’s National Youth Authority, Julian Cobbinah, has called for a fundamental shift in West Africa’s security approach, urging governments to place human security and youth development at the centre of regional peacebuilding efforts.
Speaking at the opening of the West Africa Youth Summit on Peace, Peacebuilding and Security in Accra on Wednesday, March 25, 2025, Mr Cobbinah warned that rising youth unemployment, social exclusion and weak social cohesion are creating fertile ground for violent extremism across the sub-region.
Drawing on his experience in national security, youth policy and student activism, Cobbinah said peace can no longer be defined merely by the absence of violence, but by the presence of opportunity, dignity and inclusion.
“The most powerful weapon in our national arsenal is not a drone or a battalion, it is a young person who has something to lose because they finally have everything to gain,” he stated.
He also cautioned that unchecked youth unemployment should be treated as a national security emergency rather than a routine economic challenge, arguing that idle youth energy, when ignored, often becomes a tool for destabilisation.
“When I see out-of-control unemployment figures, I don’t just see a sluggish economy; I see the erosion of the social contract,” he said.
Referencing the United Nations Development Programme’s human security framework, Cobbinah stressed that states collapse not from external attack alone, but from internal neglect, where citizens no longer feel protected or represented by the state.
“State security is an illusion if there is no human security. A state rots from the inside out when its people no longer feel it belongs to them,” he noted.
He warned that border communities facing poverty, unemployment and exclusion often become prime targets for extremist recruitment, as violent groups exploit grievances created by weak governance and policy failure.
“Radicalisation is not a choice made by the wealthy; it is a hostile takeover of the hopeless,” Cobbinah said.
Using Ghana and Burkina Faso as a comparative case study, Cobbinah attributed Ghana’s relative stability to deliberate investments in social cohesion, inclusive governance and community-level conflict resolution, while warning that the absence of such “soft security” structures has contributed to Burkina Faso’s current insecurity.
He urged young peacebuilders to see themselves not as passive participants but as architects of the region’s future, challenging leaders to stop viewing youth as a problem to be managed and instead as a national asset to be protected.
“Do not think of yourselves as spectators of history. Think of yourselves as its authors,” he told participants.
Convened by Conciliation Resources, in collaboration with Northcode Ghana and Indigo Côte d’Ivoire, with support from Global Affairs Canada, and held under the theme “Leaders of today, not tomorrow,” the summit is one of the most significant gatherings of young peace practitioners in the region in recent years. Participants include young women and men from border communities in northern Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, representatives of West African peace networks, and leaders from minority ethnic groups and marginalised communities. The summit also brings traditional leaders, government representatives, and regional security experts into direct dialogue with participants, ensuring that the insights and expertise of young peacebuilders reach those with the authority to act on them.
The summit opened with an address from Dr. George Amoh, Executive Director of the Peace Council of Ghana, who set out the state of youth, peace and security in West Africa, a region where the southward spread of armed violence from the Sahel has placed increasing pressure on communities that have, until recently, been spared the worst of regional instability.
Dr Nansata Saliah Yakubu, West Africa programme director at Conciliation Resources, welcomed participants with a message emphasising the expertise and legitimacy young people bring to peace and security work.
“These are not young people waiting to inherit the challenge of building peace. They are doing it now, in their communities, across borders, every day. This summit is a space to connect that work, amplify it, and ensure it reaches the people who need to hear it most.”
Simone Diouf, African Union Ambassador for Youth in West Africa, delivered a youth representative’s opening statement on behalf of participants.
Long-held concerns about the potential spread of insecurity from the Sahel to coastal West Africa have intensified in recent years. Armed groups are now active across Burkina Faso’s southern borders with Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and Togo. The sustained stability of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, as the region’s two most populous and largest economies, is of critical importance to wider West African security.
Against this backdrop, the summit’s opening session, ‘From borderlines to frontlines: Youth experiences of conflict and resilience,’ heard directly from young people about the security challenges facing border communities, the persistent exclusion of young people from political and economic life, and the innovative peacebuilding approaches young people have developed in response.
About Conciliation Resources
Conciliation Resources is an international organisation committed to stopping violent conflict and creating more peaceful societies. We work with people impacted by war and violence, bringing diverse voices together to make change that lasts.
About NORTHCODE-Ghana
NORTHCODE-Ghana works to improve the environment, lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable, disadvantaged and excluded in Northern Ghana. NORTHCODE-Ghana places special focus on working alongside poor women, children and local communities because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to contribute towards alleviating poverty and diseases of societies at large.
About Indigo Côte d’Ivoire
Indigo Côte d’Ivoire, a well-established leading organisation committed to peacebuilding and the promotion of social cohesion in a strong Africa, where communities and public authorities recognise that it is up to them to act collectively through dialogue, inclusivity, integrity and neutrality to seek solutions so that challenges no longer divide them but instead bring them closer together.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
