Topic:
Country: Ghana
Delegate Name: Kate Petersburg
Committee: General Assembly
Topic: De-escalation of Sectarian Conflict
Country: Ghana
Delegate: Kate Petersburg
School: Williamston High School
Sectarian Conflict has always been a major issue throughout the ages and we continue to see it today. It stems from a political, cultural, and/or religious identity and often causes tension between those of opposite views. In 2012 it was found that a third of all studied countries and territories had an abnormally high level of hostilities related to religion, in fact this number has been very high recently. Women have also been harassed because of their religious ways of dressing in almost a third of countries. This just goes to show the high level of religious fighting within societies but in some countries sectarian conflict is more anchored towards political beliefs.
Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, discrimination based on religion or belief is unacceptable and The General Assembly passed a resolution titled “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief”. This act condemns those who have participated in acts of terrorism targeting individuals such as religious minorities. In Ghana the population of 33.1 million is estimated to be approximately 71% Christian, 20% Muslim, 3% indigenous beliefs, and 6% having no religion. Currently Muslim-Christian and intra-Muslim tensions are very prominent mainly over the interpreting of the Quran and hadith.
Within Ghana, there are currently no actions put in place, but would be willing to join depending on the execution of these projects. Ghana’s citizens have free religion but still have strong beliefs in their chosen religion. Some plans Ghana would like to put in place would include monitoring the media and religious statements in order to prevent societies from fighting amongst each other.
