Paper short abstract:

Community infrastructures are important in advancing peacebuilding and conflict transformation. This paper explores building peace efforts by civil society groups in northern Ghana. Peace and security building must pay attention to local people, their resources and skills..

Paper long abstract:

Community social infrastructures are considered are considered very important in advancing peacebuilding efforts and conflict transformation in contemporary Africa. This paper interrogates this proposition by exploring the role of CSOs in building peace and stability in northern Ghana using an ethnographic study. The paper argues that peace and security building efforts must pay attention to local people and their resources and skills for building peace. We advocate for an alternative approach to peace building which stresses the centrality of indigenous knowledge to sustainable peace building. This argument is illustrated with the case of Northern Ghana and the implementation of the Peace and Reconciliation Programme by the National Peace Council in selected conflict prone communities of Ghana, which has sought to directly involve local populations in all stages of the peace building process. The study noted that the use of local resources for peaceful change, focusing on the strengths, capacities and best cultural practices present in the conflict communities, were very effective in actively mobilizing the community members for peace building initiative. Peace building initiatives must empower communities in developing their own strategies for peace and reconciliation, and draw on existing models and local resources for effective development.