The West Africa Youth Summit on Peace, Peacebuilding and Security has opened in Accra, bringing together 60 young peacebuilders from across the sub-region for three days of dialogue, knowledge exchange and collective action planning.
Convened by Conciliation Resources in collaboration with NORTHCODE-Ghana and Indigo Côte d’Ivoire, with support from Global Affairs Canada, the summit is being held under the theme “Leaders of today, not tomorrow.”
The gathering is one of the most significant assemblies of young peace practitioners in West Africa in recent years. Participants include young women and men from border communities in northern Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, representatives of regional peace networks, and leaders from minority ethnic and marginalised communities. Traditional leaders, government officials and regional security experts are also engaging directly with participants to ensure that youth perspectives reach decision-makers.
The summit opened with an address by Dr George Amoh, Executive Director of the National Peace Council of Ghana, who outlined the evolving youth, peace and security landscape in West Africa, warning of the growing spillover of Sahelian violence into previously stable coastal states.
“Young people are not just victims of insecurity; they are the first responders to it. If West Africa is to withstand the spread of violent extremism, youth must be placed at the centre of prevention, dialogue and resilience-building.”
Welcoming participants, Dr Nansata Saliah Yakubu, West Africa Programme Director at Conciliation Resources, emphasised the legitimacy and expertise young people already bring to peace and security efforts.
“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, the African Union Ambassador for Youth in West Africa, delivered the opening statement on behalf of the participants.
Opening the summit, Julian Cobinnah, Chairperson of Ghana’s National Youth Authority, 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.
“We must realise that 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 said.
“As the Chairperson of the National Youth Authority, I look at our unemployment data not as mere statistics, but as a countdown. When I see ‘out of control’ unemployment figures, I don’t just see a sluggish economy; I see the erosion of the social contract.”
“I see millions of young minds, brimming with cognitive energy, with nowhere to anchor it. And history tells us exactly where that energy goes when it is ignored. This is where the ‘hard’ intelligence of the state must meet the ‘human’ reality in our communities.”
Concerns about the southward spread of insecurity from the Sahel have intensified in recent years, with armed groups now active along Burkina Faso’s borders with Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and Togo. The continued stability of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire—West Africa’s two most populous and economically significant countries—is therefore critical to regional security.
Against this backdrop, the opening session, ‘From borderlines to frontlines: Youth experiences of conflict and resilience’, featured testimonies from young people on insecurity in border communities, the exclusion of youth from political and economic processes, and innovative, youth-led peacebuilding responses.
The afternoon session included a presentation by NORTHCODE-Ghana and Indigo Côte d’Ivoire on the Ghana–Côte d’Ivoire Youth Leadership Project, part of the broader Leaders of Today, Not Tomorrow programme funded by Global Affairs Canada. The presentation highlighted lessons from youth-led peace initiatives, adaptive leadership models and cross-border network building.
The summit will conclude on Friday, 27 March 2026, with the presentation of the Accra Youth Declaration on Peace and Security in West Africa—a youth-led document outlining priority concerns, policy recommendations, and commitments to be submitted to regional governments, the African Union, ECOWAS, and international partners.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
