The role of civil society organizations in deconstructing ethnopolitical conflict narratives through peace education: lessons from the Northern Region of Ghana

ABSTRACTThe collective adherence to contradictory conflict narratives has underpinned the intractable ethnopolitical conflicts that have occurred in the Northern Region of Ghana. Changing the conflict narratives that perpetuate ethnopolitical conflicts in the region through peace education is a prerequisite for any meaningful peacebuilding. Consequently, the study examined how civil society actors use peace education to deconstruct negative conflict narratives in the region. The study is qualitative and relied on both primary and secondary data sources. Primary data was obtained through in-depth interviews with 20 participants. The data was analyzed using an inductive-deductive thematic analysis approach with the aid of NVivo 12 software. The study found that civil society organizations’ (CSOs) peace education programs create awareness, facilitate mutual understanding, and engender values of human rights, non-violence moves to conflict resolution, reconciliation, and trust-building. Peace educational activities by CSOs, whether direct or indirect, and whether in educational settings or the community, are essential in changing the socio-psychological infrastructure that perpetuates a culture of violence. It is proposed for broader engagement with CSOs for the initiation and implementation of context-specific peace education programs to help deconstruct the conflict narratives that perpetuate identity conflicts in some parts of Ghana.KEYWORDS: Northern Ghanapeace educationpeaceethnopoliticalcivil societyconflict narrative Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsMathias Awonnatey AtengMathias Awonnatey Ateng holds a Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Manitoba. He is currently a Researcher with the Centre for Peace and Security Studies, University for Development Studies. His research interest include civil society and peacebuilding, peace education, peace policy and infrastructure, peace processes in communal conflicts and peace leadership. He has over ten years of working experience in research and practice.Mohammed Gadafi IbrahimIbrahim MOhammed Gadafi holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies with specialization in peacebuilding and conflict Management. He is currently a lecturer at the Department of Political Science at the University for Development Studies, Ghana. His research interest covers conflict management, peacebuilding, security, cultural and rural development, and social policy. As a practitioner and researcher, he has worked with government agencies and civil society organizations to bring sustainable peace and development to commuities in Ghana.