Institute launches national campaign to encourage female participation in military combat
The Women, Peace and Security Institute (WPSI) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has launched a national campaign to encourage female participation in military combat and combat-support arms.
The Canadian Elsie Initiative funded programme, launched on Wednesday the June 21 in Accra, would be implemented in partnership with the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
It would serve as a platform to sensitise, educate and encourage females in educational institutions to enlist for combat and combat support roles.
The project is on the theme: “Increasing women’s recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces for an increased Participation in United Nations (UN) Peace Operations Project.”
Colonel William Abotsi, the Project Manager for the Ghana Elsie Initiative Fund, disclosed in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that WPSI and GAF would conduct a communication and awareness raising campaign, both in-person and on social media.
“The idea behind the national campaign is to change the narrative to educate young women in high schools and tertiary institutions that there are a lot more career opportunities in the Ghana Armed Forces. We want to inform them and also break the gender stereotypes that women can only fit in role prescribed for them by society,” he said.
The Deputy Minister of Defence, Kofi Amankwah-Manu, who spoke for the sector Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, said the campaign would help break gender barriers and enhance participation.
That is in line with the goals and objectives of the United Nations (UN) Resolutions 1325 adopted in 2000, and 2242 adopted in 2015 and the UN Gender Parity Strategy Target from 2018 to 2028.
Mr. Kofi Amankwah stated that the campaign would include enhancing female-friendly infrastructural projects to increase inclusion and participation of females in more meaningful roles within GAF.
There would be the construction of 200 and 100 bed capacity-female accommodation facilities at Army Recruit Training Schools in Shai Hills and Daboya Training Centres, respectively.
Major-General Richard Addo Gyane, the Commandant of KAIPTC, said the Centre remained committed to promoting Gender Equality through meaningful participation as enshrined in international provisions.
It included the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, as well as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Maputo Protocol).
The National Recruitment Campaign was born out of the Elsie Initiative-funded WPSI-KAIPTC research on Gender barrier assessment.
The campaign would target young females in high schools and tertiary institutions to take up opportunities within the various combat units and leadership roles in future both in GAF and in UN Peacekeeping operations.
When in force, the campaign would be expected to achieve an increased eligibility pool of women within GAF, address all misconceptions and stereotypes about women joining armed forces.
Source: GNA