The Coastal States Stability Mechanism (CSSM), a 40-million-dollar programme of the USA and Germany, has been established in Ghana to improve the situation in northern Ghana and its West African neighbours Benin and Togo.

The CSSM is linked to Ghana's National Framework for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorism. It is based on the realisation that intergovernmental cooperation is the only way to combat the causes of growing Islamist terrorism in the region and curb the spread of terrorist organisations.

The CSSM has a flexible mechanism for small grants to implement activities tailored to the local context. The intention is to support state measures to combat local causes of instability.

Project funding

The CSSM project, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the German Federal Foreign Office, comprises 40 million US dollars and will run until April 2026. It is being implemented on the ground by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in coordination with the Ghanaian Ministry of National Security and the Counter-Terrorism Fusion Centre. Local government institutions and other municipal partners are also involved. The initiative aims to bolster security, strengthen community cohesion, improve the capacities and legitimacy of government representatives and promote social and economic development.

Violent extremist organisations operating in the Sahel are expanding their influence across borders to the northern regions of the West African coastal countries. This is enhanced by destabilising factors such as the inadequate provision of state services, poor economic prospects and long-standing ethnic conflicts.

Although the north of the country has so far shown itself to be more resilient to terrorism than its neighbouring states, the Ghanaian government wants to actively combat this threat from the Sahel region. This includes conflict prevention programmes in close cooperation with local initiatives and institutions. The local conflicts over land and chiefdom disputes, which often take place along ethnic lines, have far-reaching effects on the daily lives of the inhabitants. They limit freedom of movement and economic development and fuel the feeling of insecurity towards the state security forces of the police and military. The programme aims to tackle these difficulties head-on. In addition, the equipment of security forces is to be significantly strengthened, while hospital facilities in the region are to be improved and trauma counselling introduced.