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, 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 roles 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.
Source: Ghana News Agency