Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), through its Women, Youth, Peace and Security Institute (WYPSI), has collaborated with a consortium of Women Groups, named the Women Situation Room, to run a training program dubbed “Ghana’s 2024 Elections: Enhancing the Capacity of Women Mediators for Electoral Dispute Resolution”.
The Government of Sweden sponsored 3-day residential workshop, which commenced on Monday 28 October 2024, at the KAIPTC, Teshie, Accra, intends training the group as trainers and mediators, ensuring peace, women’s inclusion, and transparency in Ghana’s 2024 Parliamentary and Presidential nationwide elections.
Mr Edmund Ofosu-Bamfo – Senior Program Officer, WYPSI, opened the course for 25 women representing various Regions of Ghana, forming the Consortium for the Women Situation Room consisting of Foundation for Security Development in Africa (FOSDA), the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) working Group on Women Youth Peace and Security.
Others are; African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF), Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCed), ABANTU for Development, Women in Mediation Network (WoMNet), and Conciliation Resources.
Mr Ofosu-Bamfo said KAIPTC recognizes the indispensable roles women and the youth play in advancing peace, security, and inclusive governance, for women have been at the forefront of many conflict resolution, social cohesion and dialogues for peace efforts, especially at the community and national levels.
He further stated that the training will train participants on conflict analysis, management and resolution, dialogue and strategy for mediation, to empower Ghanaian women as mediators, with the requisite skills and knowledge necessary to effectively mediate any potential dispute or conflict that may arise before, during or after the coming elections, at all levels.
Trained participants would then be expected to provide appropriate responsive intervention to any potential conflict that may arise before, during and after the general elections, while some will contribute their technical expertise in the Physical Situation Room, to be established by GenCed, he said.
He added that most of the participants will be deployed to their respective regions and communities, to embark on non-violent election campaigns, to mediate any electoral disputes that may arise, being at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the voices of women and youth are heard and respected, throughout the electoral processes.
Ms Theodora Anti Williams – Executive Director, FOSDA, said her organization, acting as the convener, deems it important to build women’s skills, give them the experience and competencies they need to be proactive, position them to participate meaningfully in the upcoming elections, and ensure that all women groups are participating equally, in the processes.
Dr Charity Binka – Chair of the Ghana Chapter of AWLN, said women do not need to be aggressive or ‘break’ anything, but have a huge responsibility to be assertive, opining that when there is chaos, it is women who suffer with children, while young people are needlessly trapped into the turmoil.
She spoke of the African Women Leaders’ Day, which she said is an initiative of the African Union and the UN, established in 2017 to bring African women together, as part of the agenda, to transform Africa, and said two of the setup’s aspiration are women’s roles in political participation, and peace and security.
Other dignitaries at the opening ceremony were Her Eminence Mrs Joana Opare – Board Member of Ghana’s National Peace Council; Ms Janet Adama Mohammed – West Africa Regional Coordinator of Conciliation Resources; Madam Agnes Agbevadi – Senior Programme Officer, WYPSI; Queen Mothers, women group leaders, and the course Facilitators.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
