[{"bbox": [85, 154, 328, 186], "category": "Section-header", "text": "2 RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [85, 220, 250, 247], "category": "Section-header", "text": "2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [96, 291, 1134, 395], "category": "Text", "text": "Ghana plays a pivotal role within ECOWAS, actively contributes to various UN peacekeeping operations, hosts the Secretariat of the Accra Initiative, and plays a key role in mediating conflicts across West Africa. Moreover, on a continental scale, Ghana holds significant importance within the African Union, serving as the host of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area.¹⁴"}, {"bbox": [96, 424, 1134, 664], "category": "Text", "text": "Due to fiscal vulnerabilities, exacerbated by the international context, Ghana is facing a violent financial crisis since 2022, severely impacting its population, with high inflation and currency depreciation rates. In addition, youth unemployment poses a serious long-term risk. Due to the economic situation described above, but also governance challenges, Ghana is facing growing inequalities among its regions and among its population. Economic growth has led to strains on communities in Northern Ghana, resulting in North-South disparities, widening inequality gaps, and exacerbating existing tensions. There are also gender inequalities: critical gender gaps and disparities remain in fields such as employment, access to health services, education, and long-term assets or political representation (e.g. only 14.6% of seats in Parliament are held by women, a gap that hampers women participation in decision processes, and gender-sensitive policies, including on security and conflict prevention).¹⁵"}, {"bbox": [96, 689, 1134, 981], "category": "Text", "text": "The deteriorating security situation in the northern regions, exacerbated by long-standing land disputes, presents a significant challenge. Illegal gold-mining operations, known as galamsey, further exacerbate insecurity, particularly along the northwestern border with Côte d'Ivoire. The proximity to Burkina Faso, where Jama'a Nasrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) has conducted attacks for several years, raises fears of spillover instability, further fuelling local conflicts. Since 2023, Ghana has experienced an increasing influx of Burkinabe nationals, with over 16 000 asylum seekers estimated to have crossed the border¹⁶. This has substantially increased pressure on the already overstretched social services, caused fears of jihadist infiltration, and raised concerns about the increased risks of local conflicts triggered by agropastoral dynamics. In addition, the country has become a hub for arms and drug trafficking between the Sahel and coastal areas, contributing to insecurity, and raising concerns about the intertwining of terrorist and transnational organised crime networks. In this context, the upcoming general elections planned for 2024 may become a flashpoint for politically motivated violence¹⁷."}, {"bbox": [96, 1007, 1134, 1324], "category": "Text", "text": "In Ghana, the European Union supports numerous interventions aiming at strengthening the security sector and conflict resilience, in areas ranging from the prevention and countering of violent extremism, border security and the fight against terrorism and transnational organised crime to rural development programmes whose economic and environmental benefits help address the root causes of conflicts. The action complements material support provided to the defence forces under the European Peace Facility (EPF)¹⁸, by the EU Security and Defence (CSDP) Initiative for West African countries in the Gulf of Guinea Initiative¹⁹, as well as to the ongoing Rapid Response Actions, and regional programmes on prevention of violent extremism (AAP 2022), and on demining, border management and on the criminal justice chain (AAP 2024). By aligning with and complementing existing efforts, the action aims to maximise its impact and effectiveness in supporting Ghana's security and stability objectives. The proposed action is part of a comprehensive strategy to enhance security and stability in Ghana and the broader West African region. It helps to realise the ambitions of the 2022 Strategic Compass, and it is consistent with the EU Security Union Strategy (2020), the Global Strategy for the European Union's Foreign and Security Policy"}, {"bbox": [85, 1357, 760, 1382], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁴ The African Continental Free Trade Area is a flagship project of Agenda 2063."}, {"bbox": [85, 1382, 644, 1405], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁵ USAID-Ghana-Gender-Analysis-Report.pdf (banyanglobal.com)"}, {"bbox": [85, 1405, 533, 1428], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁶ https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/108862"}, {"bbox": [85, 1429, 1142, 1478], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁷ While Ghana's elections have generally been peaceful since the return of democracy in the 1990s, recent election cycles have seen an increase in politically affiliated youth vigilante groups resorting to violent tactics."}, {"bbox": [85, 1478, 1143, 1598], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁸ Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1440 of 10 July 2023 on an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility to support the Ghana Armed Forces; Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/2682 of 27 November 2023 on an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility to support military actors and navies of coastal states involved in maritime security operations in the Gulf of Guinea, and Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/1063 of 4 April 2024 on an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility."}, {"bbox": [85, 1598, 1143, 1645], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁹ Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1599 of 3 August 2023 on a European Union Security and Defence Initiative in support of West African countries of the Gulf of Guinea."}, {"bbox": [1038, 1682, 1143, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 30"}]