Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has commenced the 2023/24 version of the Inspiring African Women Leaders in Peace and Security Course (IAWL-PS), to offer a unique opportunity to Mid-Level African women working in the peace and security sector, to harness their skills and take up key leadership roles within the African landscape.
Twenty (20) women from Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mosotho (Lesotho), Namibia, Sierra Leone, Swazi, and Uganda, commenced a 6-month training program which has three components, with the first module taking off from Monday 16 to 27 October, 2023.
The two other modules of the IAWL-PS are 1) Coaching (November 2023-March 2024 – 3 individual coaching sessions per participant) and Mentoring (November 2023-March 2024 – 3 group webinars) sessions; and 2) Women in Peace and Security Mentoring Course (1 week course in March 2024).
Leadership being a process, the 20 mid-level career women will be engaged for a six-month period as they work to improve their leadership capacities, through training and guided individual support as they work on their “personal leadership projects”, which would enable participants address specific leadership challenges peculiar to their work or community.
The three objectives of the course are; providing hands-on leadership skills to participants; providing in-depth knowledge on Women in Peace and Security (WPS) agenda; and to enable participants design personal leadership projects.
Delivering the opening address as the Guest-of-Honour, the Commandant, KAIPTC – Major General (Maj Gen) Richard Addo Gyane, said the program was developed in line with the Centre’s Strategic Objectives to build the African capacity to fully implement the Maputo Protocol on WPS, the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSRC 1325) and its follow up resolutions in the context of Africa.
“Women’s equal representation and meaningful participation in peace processes through governance, politics, advocacy and activism is essential for a fully-functioning and inclusive democratic system, and sustainable peace and security”, General Gyane stated.
He continued to say that, over the years, there have been many strides with regards to promoting women’s leadership roles across the continent, particularly through laws, policies and standard-setting frameworks on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE).
He however noted that women’s representation in decision-making spaces continue to fall far below desired levels that would bring about real transformation, as they are severely underrepresented in leadership positions, and the gender-gap in male dominated fields, such as peace and security, remains a challenge.
He said in June 2019, the Executive Management Committee of the KAIPTC approved the creation of the KAIPTC Women Support Scheme, with the purpose to increase capacity-building and networking opportunities for women, through targeted training program.
Collaborators of the IAWL-PS course are the Women Youth Peace and Security Institute (WYPSI) of the KAIPTC, and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), with full funding from the Deutsche-Gesellschaft fur Internationale Susammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).
Dignitaries present were Ms. Franziska Jebens – Acting Deputy Ambassador and Head of Cooperation, who represented the German Ambassador; Ms. Fleur Heyworth – representative of the Geneva Center for Security Policy; Mrs Agnes Agbevadi – Acting Head, WYPSI; Ms. Teresa Krafft – Head of Component, GIZ Support Office to the KAIPTC, Ms. Tamwakat Elizabeth Golit, Embedded Technical Experts – WPS-ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) Project, Course Director, and Facilitators.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
