At the Akayet Hotel in Bolgatanga, voices from Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Togo converged for the 7th Northern Ghana Security Dialogue and Cross-Border Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Forum, convened by STAR-Ghana Foundation under the Strengthening Systems for Resilience against Extremism (SURE) Project.

The gathering brought together state and non-state actors, traditional authorities, and civil society leaders to deepen collaboration on peace and security across borders. Against the backdrop of rising instability in the Sahel, participants reaffirmed their shared commitment to building resilient communities and strengthening coordination in border management and violent extremism prevention.

In his opening remarks, Alhaji Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, Executive Director of STAR-Ghana Foundation, called for integrated security, setting the tone for the dialogue:

He emphasized the urgency of frequent, coordinated engagement, noting that the pace of change in border regions demands more than annual conversations.

“The context in which we operate, particularly in the border regions, is becoming increasingly complex and fast-moving. Waiting a year for dialogue is not enough; the pace of change demands more frequent engagement to address emerging risks and threats.”

Addressing Drivers of Instability

Participants explored the underlying factors fueling insecurity across northern Ghana and its neighboring borders. Alhaji Tanko highlighted three critical “drivers of instability”:

• Economic Crisis: Rising youth unemployment and cost of living are deepening vulnerabilities.
• Extractives and Environment: Mining and oil exploration, including prospecting in the Voltaian Basin, risk community displacement and environmental degradation.
• Community Disconnect: A gap persists between policy agreements made in capitals and the lived realities of border communities.

“We must ensure that those in the most vulnerable areas feel their voices and issues truly matter,” he urged.

Bridging the Gap Between State and Civil Society

This forum, implemented in partnership with the West Africa Centre for Counter Extremism (WACCE) and the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), deliberately expanded its platform to include CSOs from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo.

This regional approach is a direct response to the porous borders and informal networks that extremist groups often exploit. The dialogue aimed to refresh response strategies and identify new drivers of extremism that threaten borderland communities. Key areas of technical focus included:

• Security and Intelligence Collaboration: Improving cross-border communication protocols and joint community operations.
• Humanitarian-Security Nexus: Managing refugee inflows and addressing cross-border mobility patterns to build community resilience.
• Women’s Leadership: Recognizing and amplifying the role of women as peace agents and brokers.

Following intensive plenary discussions and technical sessions, participants across all three nations offered a set of bold recommendations to redefine security governance in the region:

• Move Beyond Symbolic Inclusion: Participants urged that women, including Queen Mothers and grassroots peacebuilders be positioned as central, leading actors in formal security architecture.
• Redefine Security Actors: There was a strong call to integrate youth-led organizations and community structures into early warning and mediation frameworks, recognizing them as frontline partners.
• Strengthen CSO Capacity: In the face of Sahelian instability, CSOs must be formally resourced and protected as key actors in peace mediation.
• Institutionalize Partnership: Peace should not be treated as a technical policy issue alone; it requires a partnership-based approach that embeds community ownership at every level.

As the Executive Director of STAR-Ghana Foundation noted, the ultimate goal is to ensure that these community-led insights find a “permanent home” within national security frameworks.

The event was supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and featured high-level participation from the Interior Ministry, Regional Ministers, and traditional authorities, signaling a unified front against regional insecurity.