Accra, June 20, GNA - Dr. Kwasi Apea-Kubi, Deputy Minister of the Interior, on Friday said conflict situations transcended civil strife and rebel activities.

He said: "We often thought of conflict as internal civil strife and rebel activities and have given little attention to crises and disasters such as earthquakes floods and bush fires." Dr. Apea-Kubi cited that Ghanaians were caught unprepared when floods hit the northern part of the country in 2007 resulting in unprecedented level of damage.

He was speaking at the closing ceremony of a three-week conflicts and crises management course, organized for personnel of the security services, at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, in Accra.

Other participants were representatives of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Customs and Excise Prevention Service (CEPS), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the National Media Commission (NMC).

Dr. Apea-Kubi said though Ghana could be identified as peaceful, the people must be reminded of the myriad conflicts, particularly in the northern part of the country as well as several chieftaincy and land disputes, which seemed to defy any immediate solutions. He said the upsurge in global conflicts, crises and the scale of devastation due to disasters in recent times should send signals to all countries in the world that some thing pragmatic must be done about these developments.

Dr. Apea-Kubi noted that traditional methods and techniques often used in conflicts and crises prevention had not been successful and said "There is a cyclical relationship between conflicts, crises and disasters".

He said that many well-resourced countries like the United Kingdom had been brought to their knees in some cases in their attempts to find solutions to global conflicts and crises. Dr. Apea-Kubi commended the organizers of the programme for their vision in fielding a course that would reinforce links between personnel, agencies and stakeholders responsible for conflict and crisis management, which would ensure multi-agency approach to conflict resolution.

Tony Moore, course facilitator, urged participants to put into practice modern theories and models of dealing with conflicts and crises. He said no organisation could deal with conflicts on its own and urged all stakeholders to play their roles effectively to minimise the situation in Africa.